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“Apparently I deserve this title, despite the fact that I haven’t charged a gap for cataract surgery in 10 years and perform over 500 public cataract operations each year,” he said.

“By dismantling Medicare and reducing the cataract rebate in 2010, 200,000 Australian - and 1000 South Coast residents - will be significantly disadvantaged.”

According to Dr Larkin, the waiting list for cataract surgery at Batemans Bay Hospital has increased to 15 months for the first eye and two-and-a-half years for the second eye since the Labor Government was elected in 2007.

His fear is that by cutting the Medicare rebate in half - from $632.70 to $340.76 - waiting lists will blow out even further.

However Rural and Regional Health Minister Warren Snowden says improvements in technology over the past 20 years have made cataract procedures faster and less expensive.

He believes that patients and taxpayers should share the benefits of these improvements.

Dr Larkin disputes this.

“Cataract surgery has not changed in 15 years,” he said.

“It is no cheaper and no quicker today than it was in 1994. In fact, it is vastly more expensive than the previous technique performed prior to that time.”

Dr Larkin says halving the rebate reduces his income from cataract surgery by 75 per cent.

“Yet my overheads have remained the same,” he said. “Unfortunately it is simply not sustainable and I am now in a position where I have to charge large gaps to patients due to the poorly considered policies of the Rudd Labor Government.”

Bega MP Andrew Constance launched a petition earlier this week, which calls on the Federal Government to restore the rebate for cataract operations.

Dr Larkin wants residents to sign the petition to re-instate the previous cataract surgery rebate.

“The community can do something about it,” he said.