Lunch with Labor candidate Brian Owler? That’s $3500 please

Labor is selling $3500 tickets to a private lunch with its star candid­ate in Bennelong, former AMA president Brian Owler.

Labor candidate for Bennelong Dr Brian Owler. Picture: AAP

Labor is selling $3500 tickets to a private lunch with its star candid­ate in Bennelong, former Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler, as it continues to raise campaign funds ahead of announci­ng key health policies.

The Federal Labor Business Forum sent invitations yesterday to a March 14 lunch in Sydney with Professor Owler, offering $2000 tickets to members of the forum who already pay for access to party figures. Such fundraising lunches are held by both sides of polit­ics and usually showcase front­bench­ers, such as Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King.

However, Labor has sought to maintain Professor Owler’s high profile and seemingly allowed him to host the lunch on his own; the invita­tion does not allude to any specific speaking points, but rather his role as a neurosurgeon, acad­emic, head of various health organ­isations, and someone “who has dedicated his career to caring for people and serving the community”.

With those credentials, there has been speculation over Profes­sor Owler’s possible role in a Shorten government. Two weeks ago, Ms King gave a keynote address to the National Press Club, only to be asked if she was concerned Profess­or Owler would become health minist­er instead of her.

“I think he’s a champion of healthcare reform and I would welcome him into the parliament and into the ministry … in any way, shape or form,” Ms King replied.

When Bill Shorten announced in October that Professor Owler was joining the Labor Party, he dubbed him “Mr Medicare”, owing to his previous AMA role fighting Coali­tion health cuts.

“Mr Medicare is coming to Canberra to make sure that we put Medicare and healthcare right up the top,” the Opposition Leader said, while still backing Ms King as a future minister.

Labor has promised to protect Medicare, but has not offered an alternative to the Coalition’s approac­h nor responded to calls from the AMA and others for an increase in rebates.

There was bipartisan support at the weekend for a new rebate for heart checks, despite some in the sector questioning if it was needed and an expert advisory group not identifying it as a priority.

Labor has also adopted the same underlying public hospital formula as the Coalition, although each party has a separate hospital fund to distribute before the election­. Labor’s $2.8 billion fund is bigger than the Coalition’s $1.25bn fund. However, the Coalition has promised 50 new MRI machines to Labor’s 20.

To date, Labor’s overarching health policies merely initiate further reviews, with a 2 per cent cap on private health insurance prem­ium increases while the Productiv­ity Commission holds an inquiry into the sector, and the establishment of a permanent Australian Health Reform Commission.

Australian Electoral Commission disclosures recently showed Labor had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from GP networks, private hospit­al groups, private health insurers, pathology providers and pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Owler ceased his work as a visiting medical officer a week ago to focus on unseating the Libera­l incumbent in Bennelong, former tennis pro John Alexander. He has been outspoken on health, immig­ration and climate change.