Labor budget pitches major reform to public health system

A federal Labor government would increase cancer research funding to support a $2.3-billion national plan to cut the costs of treatment for millions of Australians, opposition leader Bill Shorten has said.

In his budget reply speech on 4 April, Shorten said many Australians would be surprised to learn that cancer treatments and medications were not fully covered by Medicare, the country’s public health system.

“One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in our life,” he said.