The NSW Opposition is calling on the Minns Labor Government to deliver a payroll tax amnesty for NSW GPs in this year's Budget to ensure access to affordable healthcare.
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman called on Premier Chris Minns to urgently provide GPs with a payroll tax amnesty, so that clinics across NSW are not forced to close or raise their fees.
"From 4 September, many clinics will be facing a retrospective tax bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could force closures or fee increases. This will mean more patients presenting to our state's overwhelmed emergency departments, which are buckling under the pressure of Labor's cuts to health funding," Mr Speakman said.
"The Minns Government should urgently guarantee a payroll tax amnesty from July 2018 to June 2025, to be followed by ongoing suitable exemptions - such as for bulk billing practices."
"But instead this Labor Government is again missing in action - at the same time as they're cutting the health budget, they're adding to the hospital waiting lists," Mr Speakman said.
"The NSW health system has been seriously impacted by Labor's cuts to health funding - Bureau of Health Information figures showed that our hospital system is under immense strain as a result of Labor's budget mismanagement. With people already waiting longer and longer in Emergency Departments, if Labor adds thousands more to that queue they'll be putting everyone's health at risk."
Shadow Finance Minister Eleni Petinos said that other states have managed to provide exemptions or amnesties, while the Minns Labor Government has been dithering for many months.
"As some NSW clinics will face demands of retrospective payroll tax bills for more than half a million dollars, the Minns Government needs to commit to an amnesty while a permanent solution is found," Ms Petinos said.
"If Labor Governments in Queensland and Victoria can deal with this problem, people can rightly ask why Chris Minns can't do the same for NSW."
