Abbott insisted on Medicare cuts in heated debate before backflip - leaked

Yep, he was rolled. And yep, his own gov is now seriously questioning his judgment, with senior ministers threatening him they would go public to oppose the cuts. Surely, surely, he must be turfed from office soon by his own Lieberals. Can it get any worse than this?

TONY Abbott defied Treasurer Joe Hockey and the former Health Minister Peter Dutton to impose a “crazy’’ $20 cut to GP rebates before backflipping on the policy he had demanded. 

In a highly damaging leak from the powerful expenditure review committee, senior ministers have confirmed they were told Mr Hockey and Mr Dutton opposed the move during a “heated’’ exchange with the Prime Minister. 

The warnings included concerns that rolling out new changes to GP consults in the lead up to the Queensland and NSW state election was “crazy’’. 

Mr Hockey argued that the Prime Minister should simply stay the course on the $7 GP co-payment. The Prime Minister was advised to put the changes to the Senate - despite the likelihood they would be voted down - to deliver the government a clean start to the year. The $3.5 billion blow to the budget could also be blamed on Labor. 

But the Prime Minister instead insisted on changes including the $20 cut the Medicare rebate for short GP consults. 

These changes were developed by the Prime Minister’s Office and then costed by the Department of Finance and Health.

Senior ministers including Mr Hockey and Mr Dutton, who are political allies, did not support the measures concerned they would than confuse voters and anger GPs with a new policy to cut rebates to doctors. 

Doctors immediately warned the changes would be passed on to patients, raising fears of even higher charges than the original co-payment. 

As the backbench continues to question the Prime Minister’s political judgment and the “command and control’’ approach of his office, MPs insist that the original advice of the Treasurer and the Health Minister was overruled. 

However, stung by a grassroots backlash to the policy by his own Liberal MPs, a campaign by GPs and the prospect that the measure was doomed in the Senate, Mr Abbott formed the view that it must be dumped while “taking soundings’’ as he drank beers at the cricket on Thursday. more