MAVERICK backbencher Bowman MP Andrew Laming has welcomed the death of the ill-fated GP co-payment saying it will unite the coalition behind Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The outspoken Mr Laming was the first LNP MP to decry the GP co-payment, first announced in May when Treasurer Joe Hockey handed down his “hit and miss” first Budget.
Axing the proposal will mean no change to current arrangements or bulk billing.
However, Medicare rebates, which normally increase in line with CPI, will not increase, delivering savings to the government.
Mr Laming's opposition to the GP co-payment came after he spoke out spruiking the benefits of the policy after it was revised in January.
He championed the revision which cut Medicare rebates by $20 for short patient consultations less than 10 minutes.
He said that policy would encourage doctors to spend more time with patients and end “six-minute” medicine.
However, by the end of January this year, Mr Laming, who said he was the only GP in the Parliament, had changed his tune and challenged the policy.
On Tuesday, after last month’s unsuccessful leadership spill motion, Mr Laming said ditching the unpopular policy proved the Prime Minister was listening to his back bench.
"With any policy, it's my job to sell the benefits but also report back the deficiencies," he said.
"But in late December, it became clear the Senate was not going to pass the Medicare proposal and it was not going to be accepted by the public.
"I've worked single-handedly to see the policy scrapped and I'm delighted that occurred yesterday.
He said it would renew the government’s standing in the polls after the policy had done an “enormous damage to the Coalition brand”.
Mr Laming, a moderate within the party, said the government needed to make further changes to contentious measures from last year's budget.
He said Wednesday's announcement of an offer to increase defence pay from 1.5 per cent to 2per cent was one of the major issues he had put to the Prime Minister earlier this year.
"Three out of the four issues I put to the Prime Minister have now been addressed," he said
"There is one last policy area I would like to see addressed and I will be commenting on that once it’s fixed."
