February 14th, 2026Kyle’s Rant

There’s a new advert on the TV about Medicare. The scenario is that a bloke walks into the doctor’s room and with lots of smiles exchanged, walks out.
Obviously, he wasn’t too worried about the rash he had just reported or the fact that he had just contracted Covid for the 10th time or, even worse, had a brush with the latest Nipah virus. But I digress.
He goes to pay the bill and the nice smiling girl at the counter says, “no worries Medicare’s got this”. The advert finishes with a bloke saying “authorised by the Federal Government, Canberra”. And not at a horse-race commentator or auctioneer speed, a kind of nah-nah-nah speed slowed right down so we are certain that the opposition hasn’t bought it in.
Now for those who remember, Medicare was launched in its current form on February 1, 1984, by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke. It is a national, tax-funded universal health insurance scheme and was designed to provide free or subsidised access to medical services, hospital treatments, and medicines. It evolved from the earlier 1975 “Medibank” system, which was introduced by the Whitlam government. Originally one per cent of your wage, it has now gone up to two per cent of your hard-earned cash.
To break it down in terms of what the change is I took to old mate Google which spat out an estimated income impact, which is very compressed but good reading, and for all you kiddies thinking about new careers, a consideration.
Salary growth: A full-time, fully bulk-billing GP who earned roughly $280,000 in 2023 could see their salary exceed $400,000 by late 2025/2026.
Practice Revenue: Practices that adopt full bulk-billing may receive approximately $350,000 a year in additional Medicare payments, ranging from $90,000 for small to $1.2 million for large, metro practices.
Note: These figures are based on metropolitan 2025–26 Budget projections and “fully” bulk-billing, meaning the practice has opted into the new incentive program for all eligible services.
So, this is a great outcome, however as I told one politician when they opened a new roundabout outside the Daylesford Farmers Arms Hotel: “It isn’t your money.”
Medicare was a program set up for universal healthcare for all Australians. We have paid for, and continue to pay for this level of care, and I don’t mind, but stop patting yourselves on the back for doing your bloody job.
Speaking of bloody jobs, and the Hepburn Shire Council sticking to theirs, which is roads, rates and rubbish. Australia Day is well in the rearview mirror, but we shouldn’t have to check in with the council, who have enough on its plate, to check on our own moral compasses. Next year if you want to celebrate Australia Day or feel incensed at the whole thing – you do you and let others do themselves. For me the date has nothing to do with anything much. It was the day Captain Arthur Phillip and his crew raised the Union Jack flag on the beach and had a couple of beers.
But the thing is he actually arrived in Botany Bay six days earlier with the rest of the fleet. And there had been a load of comings and goings before that and not just the British. You have to make up your own mind on these matters and not rely on government bodies. And as we next wrap up 2026, gorge on our body weight of delicious food and booze and slide into 2027, the same argument will ensue, pitting the celebrating and non-celebrating camps against each other. The cookers will hit the streets to protest on whatever cause is going at the time and the rest of us will wait until the ruckus clears. And then we can truly raise a glass to this wonderful place we call home.
Aussie, Aussie, Blah rant over…