The Claim
“Broke an election promise by scrapping Medicare locals.”
Original Sources Provided
✅ FACTUAL VERIFICATION
The claim is factually accurate. On August 28, 2013, during the final leaders' debate with Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott made an explicit commitment: "We are not shutting any Medicare locals" [1]. This promise was unequivocal and made just days after Abbott had initially refused to guarantee no closures at the Coalition's health policy launch on August 22, 2013 [1].
Medicare Locals were established in 2011 as part of the Labor government's National Health Reform Agreement, with 61 organizations created across Australia to plan and fund medical services including after-hours GP services, mental health services, nurses' care, and chronic disease care [1][2].
Despite the explicit promise, the Coalition government announced in the 2014-15 budget that the Australian Medicare Local Alliance would no longer be funded and that new "Primary Health Networks" (PHNs) would replace Medicare Locals from July 1, 2015 [1]. This represented the effective abolition of the Medicare Locals program.
Missing Context
The claim provides the core fact but omits several important contextual elements:
The government's stated rationale: The Coalition justified the replacement by claiming PHNs would be "fewer but larger" and more efficient [3]. The official reasoning focused on reducing bureaucracy and ensuring "funding is being spent as effectively as possible to support frontline services rather than administration" [1].
Timeline of policy evolution: Before making the promise, Abbott had initially planned to abolish the program entirely. He explained his changed stance after the leaders' debate: "Some time ago we were going to abolish the program, we then decided on better consideration that we were going to review the program" [1]. This shows the promise was made after an internal debate, suggesting it was a calculated political position rather than a genuine policy commitment.
Continuity of some services: While the Medicare Locals organizations were abolished, some functions were transferred to the new PHNs. However, the organizations themselves ceased to exist as distinct entities.
Source Credibility Assessment
The original source, New Matilda, is an independent Australian online media outlet founded in 2004. It describes itself as independent and has a generally progressive editorial stance. It is not a mainstream news outlet like ABC, SMH, or AFR, but has a reputation for investigative journalism on political issues. The specific article cited (from 2015) discusses the restructuring and job losses associated with the Medicare Locals abolition.
While New Matilda has a clear political perspective, the factual claim being made here is independently verified by ABC Fact Check, which rated this promise as "broken" [1]. The partisan nature of the source does not undermine the factual accuracy of the claim in this instance.
Labor Comparison
Did Labor do something similar?
Search conducted: "Labor government broken election promises health policy"
Finding: While Labor established Medicare Locals in 2011 as part of their National Health Reform Agreement [2], they did not make an equivalent explicit promise to retain existing health structures and then immediately abolish them upon taking office.
However, Labor governments have been criticized for other health policy changes, including the infamous "Mediscare" campaign of 2016 where Labor claimed the Coalition would privatize Medicare—a claim that was rated misleading by fact-checkers [4].
The Coalition's Medicare Locals abolition appears to be a particularly clear-cut case of a specific, unambiguous campaign promise being broken shortly after taking office, rather than a systemic pattern across both parties.
Balanced Perspective
What happened:
The Coalition explicitly promised before the 2013 election that they would not shut any Medicare Locals. Within their first year of government, they announced the program's abolition and replacement with Primary Health Networks.
The government's defense:
The Coalition argued that replacing Medicare Locals with PHNs would create a more efficient system with less bureaucracy. They claimed the review they conducted showed the need for consolidation into larger, more streamlined organizations [1].
The criticism:
Critics argued that the abolition was ideologically driven—a desire to dismantle Labor's health reform legacy regardless of merit. The transition disrupted established relationships between primary care providers and communities. Health economists noted that the costs of dismantling and rebuilding the system were significant, representing a waste of resources [5].
Expert assessment:
ABC Fact Check, an independent fact-checking unit, explicitly rated this promise as "broken" [1]. This was not a subjective interpretation—the promise was explicit in wording, made during a high-profile leaders' debate, and clearly contradicted by subsequent government actions.
TRUE
8.0
out of 10
The claim is factually accurate. Tony Abbott explicitly promised "We are not shutting any Medicare locals" on August 28, 2013 [1]. Within months of taking office, the Coalition announced in the 2014-15 budget that Medicare Locals would be abolished and replaced with Primary Health Networks from July 1, 2015 [1]. ABC Fact Check independently verified and rated this as a broken promise [1]. While the government provided justifications about efficiency and reducing bureaucracy, the core factual claim—that an election promise was broken by scrapping Medicare Locals—is correct.
Final Score
8.0
OUT OF 10
TRUE
The claim is factually accurate. Tony Abbott explicitly promised "We are not shutting any Medicare locals" on August 28, 2013 [1]. Within months of taking office, the Coalition announced in the 2014-15 budget that Medicare Locals would be abolished and replaced with Primary Health Networks from July 1, 2015 [1]. ABC Fact Check independently verified and rated this as a broken promise [1]. While the government provided justifications about efficiency and reducing bureaucracy, the core factual claim—that an election promise was broken by scrapping Medicare Locals—is correct.
📚 SOURCES & CITATIONS (4)
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1
abc.net.au
In the final leaders debate between Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd on August 28, 2013, Mr Abbott made an unexpected health care commitment.
Abc Net -
2
aph.gov.au
Aph Gov
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3
lexology.com
The day before the Federal Budget, Professor John Horvath's Review of Medicare Locals was quietly published on the Department of Health's website…
Lexology -
4
croakey.org
Despite promising to keep Medicare Locals (it's quite breathtaking to watch the commitment now), the Abbott Government abolished the fledgling
Croakey Health Media
Rating Scale Methodology
1-3: FALSE
Factually incorrect or malicious fabrication.
4-6: PARTIAL
Some truth but context is missing or skewed.
7-9: MOSTLY TRUE
Minor technicalities or phrasing issues.
10: ACCURATE
Perfectly verified and contextually fair.
Methodology: Ratings are determined through cross-referencing official government records, independent fact-checking organizations, and primary source documents.