Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Ms Bishop would meet with ambassadors in Canberra to explain the government's position and tell them there had been no change in policy.

"There's been a terminological clarification," Mr Abbott told reporters in Houston on Saturday.

"We absolutely refuse to refer to 'occupied' East Jerusalem.

"(But) there has been no change whatsoever to our strong support for a two-state solution, to our position on resolutions 242 and 338, or our commitment to a significant aid program to Palestine."

Mr Abbott said people were reading too much into what began merely as an argument between Attorney-General George Brandis and Greens senator Lee Rhiannon

The bludgers have not only pressed the Panic button, they're actually holding it down !

Co-payments were not the only change to health in the budget. There are hikes in the cost of medicine, changes to safety nets, and the $30 billion cut from state hospital funding. But it is co-payments which have all the ingredients of a flashpoint issue which will haunt the government if not properly managed. It’ll hurt the budgets of some doctors’ patients and remind most of them the government has found a new way to put a hand in their pockets. It’s surprising the government has not got its message quite right.

The Treasurer swings between playing down the impact of the $7 fee, and saying a co-payment is necessary to make people think twice about unnecessary trips to the doctor. Both cannot be true.

It will try to push the changes through Parliament by linking them to a $20 billion medical research fund, which Dutton argues cannot happen without higher user charges for health services. But clearly this is not enough of a lever to sway Labor, the Greens, and many of the new Senate crossbenchers who will appear from July 1.

In a meeting Dr Bittar held with local GPs last week, many believed they would have to charge more than the $7 for those who could afford it, or go out of business.

“Realistically, we all discussed this, to be viable we have to be charging more. The problem is once you charge more you lose the incentive payment,” Dr Bittar said.

“It’s a catch-22.”

Health Minister Peter Dutton said doctors will be more than $400 million a year better off if they comply and charge the $7 co-payment, as they will receive $2 from every consultation.

A report by respected UBS healthcare analyst Andrew Goodsall released last week backs up Mr Dutton, calculating GPs will on average see a 4.4 per cent boost in income.

But it also argues the government has “wedged” general practice, making it economically untenable not to charge the co-payment.

And there is nothing to stop GPs as well as pathology and imaging providers from charging non-concessional patients higher rates to make up for it.

What a joke, people argue about a $7.- payment whilst the health Department charters two helicopters for $17,000.- when they could have done the same travel quicker for $6000,.- in a fixed wing charter.
Stop waffling about expenses when crap like that goes on daily. Start looking at how your local Departments operate before you carry on like morons about what Abbott said or what George Brandis said. Start enquiring about your local bureaucrats if you want to do some stirring. You want the truth then start looking for it.

Woo hoo!...I've been waiting patiently for individual to come up with his fave "moron" descriptor.

Knew he couldn't hold out much longer!