By Leo Gaggl December 5, 2025
Series: Who Really Decides? – Taking Back Our Community’s Voice
We all want a healthcare system that’s there for us when we need it. A system built on care, not on profit. But increasingly, the decisions made in Canberra seem to favour corporate balance sheets over patient wellbeing, leaving our community with longer waiting lists, rising fees, and a public system under pressure.
This isn’t happening by accident. Just like with climate policy, the health sector is another area where powerful, concentrated lobbying can have a huge impact on our daily lives.
The Influence of the For-Profit Health Lobby
When we think of healthcare, we think of doctors, nurses, and local clinics. But behind the scenes, a multi-billion dollar industry of private hospital operators and health insurance giants is one of the most active players in the lobbying game.
These large corporations spend millions to ensure their voices are heard by decision-makers. As a comprehensive 2023 academic review on “Commercial lobbying and political contributions” in Australia documents, these corporate political strategies are designed to achieve one main goal: shaping policy to benefit their bottom line.
This can mean lobbying for higher government rebates that go to their businesses, fighting against regulations that would increase transparency, or pushing for policies that shift public money into the private system.
How Does This Affect Us in Boothby?
When policy is shaped by the for-profit health lobby, it creates a system that serves shareholders first, and patients second. Here’s what that looks like on the ground for our community:
- A Weaker Public System: Every dollar of public money diverted to subsidise the private sector is a dollar that could have been invested in our public hospitals, reducing wait times for emergency care and essential surgeries.
- Rising Out-of-Pocket Costs: As Medicare rebates fail to keep pace, more and more of us are faced with huge out-of-pocket costs just to see a GP or a specialist.
- GP Shortages: A system that incentivises corporate-run specialist clinics can make it harder to attract and retain GPs in community practices, leading to shortages and longer waits for an appointment.
The foundational promise of Medicare was that everyone should have access to quality care, regardless of their ability to pay. But that principle is being steadily eroded by a system that prioritises profits.
An Independent Voice for a Healthier Community
The health of our community should not be a business opportunity. A true community independent can fight for a system that puts patients back at the centre.
Without the need to toe a party line or appease corporate donors, an independent can advocate for what our community truly needs:
- Strengthening and expanding Medicare.
- Investing in our public hospitals.
- Increasing transparency in the health sector.
- Ensuring policy is driven by evidence and community need, not by corporate lobbying.
Imagine a healthcare system shaped by people who live here, not lobbyists who don’t.
In our final post, we’ll look at the powerful gaming and supermarket lobbies and how they shape our household budgets and community wellbeing.