The Morrison Government are set to abandon the 580,000 Australians who have relied on the National Partnership Agreement on Public Dental Services for the past three years.

Greg Hunt should front up to Australians now and explain why he is taking their dental services away.

Already 2 million Australians skip dental care due to cost each year, causing over 70,000 potentially preventable hospitalisations. With the Agreement on dental expiring on 30 June, this is only set to get worse.

During the March 2020 Senate Estimates process, Senator Richard Colbeck confirmed the Government was considering the NPA on dental as part of the Budget process.

Well, the Budget was due to be delivered this week and there has been nothing but deafening silence on the dental NPA.

This Liberal Government have consistently shown their disdain for Australians oral health, cutting the investment in the National Partnership Agreement on Dental Services by nearly $300 million per year.

During the COVID-19 health emergency many dental services have been suspended for long periods, meaning Australians are further behind the eight ball when it comes to their oral health.

Australians want and deserve a health system that is fair and accessible for all. This has been made abundantly clear in the past few months.

The Government must right this wrong and give Australians a guarantee for their dental health now.