For the doctor groups, there is a comic irony in Mark Butler’s declaration that he will use legislation if necessary to curtail out-of-pocket fees for specialist care.

It lies in the fact that governments across the generations have chosen, as a matter of public policy, not to raise Medicare rebates in line with the cost of living in the real world.

And that governments across the political spectrum chose — again, as a matter of public policy — to compound the damage to patients by stripping further billions from Medicare through the notorious Big Freeze.

So for all the outrage, who is to blame?