“The government has been very focused on bulk-billing, which is a form of policing or control of general practice. That is now extending into the private specialist space.”

This is Dr Michael Bonning speaking to AusDoc shortly after being elected the AMA’s new president at its annual conference in Melbourne.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler had taken to the stage the day before, where he made it explicit he was gunning for the specialists he seems to consider greedy, those above the 95th percentile when it comes to their fees.

We still do not know the shape of Mr Butler’s promised crackdown beyond a possible demand for all specialists to list their fees on the troubled Medical Costs Finder website.