Abbott gov in chaos over $7 GP tax

Dead set. This lot couldn't organise themselves out of a wet paper bag. This is schoolyard politics. I wonder what will come out of it in the end? They're so unpredictable now anything's on the cards. Fuck I'd like to be a fly on the wall in Canberra right now.

So at present this appears to be the situation. Abbott finally caved on the $7 GP tax and the media reported that he'd done so, you know the barnacle thing. Then SSJoe pipes up denying that the GP tax was a barnacle, wanting to leave it as part of the canoe (yes this is the absurdity it's reached). Other gov people pipe up supporting the canoe version rather than the barnacle version. One Lieberal senator supports the barnacle version and has threatened to cross the floor and vote against it in the senate if it gets that far. There's also a third version of cutting the medicare rebate by $5 that wouldn't need senate approval. Presently nobody knows by the looks which version is the version :s 

Yes folks, this is Team Abbott falling to bits.

The Treasurer's intervention as the most senior economic minister in the government appeared to have put him at odds with Mr Abbott, forcing the Prime Minister to fall into line. 

However, it is not clear what the government intends to do regarding the plan, with one suggestion being that it would seek to bypass the Parliament to bring in the charge by regulation rather than through legislation. 

That could involve restructuring the payment by reducing the Medicare rebate for bulk-billed patients by $5 on each rebate claimed. 

The government was not saying, with ministers refusing to rule in or out any options. 

There are three competing versions on the future of the co-payment now, ranging from benching it for political reasons, to modifying it and pursuing it through regulation to bypass the Senate, to attempting to pass it as set out in the May budget. 

Speaking in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Hockey said the policy stood and the government would pursue it in the Parliament when it was able to do so. 

Liberal Senator Ian Macdonald has threatened to cross the floor over the GP fee proposal if the government brings it before Parliament. 

The Australian Medical Association has called on the government to make a clear statement on the whether it has shelved or is still pursuing a GP fee. more