Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
10 February 2025
I've said it once today, but I'm going to repeat it here in the chamber. I'm a little bit sleep deprived, so strap in, folks; anything could happen. I woke up at 2.30 this morning. I lay there until 5.30 and dropped off to sleep, and then the alarm went at six o'clock. So, I am feeling not my best self. But I am not alone. There are millions of women across Australia who are in my position. Perimenopause kicked in for me at 45, and—hello!—I'm 55, and now menopause is with me every night of the week: the hot sweats, the insomnia, all the things.
So I couldn't be happier to be part of a government that recognises that there are thousands of women who need support through their menopause journey, and we are going to make it better and more affordable to go to a doctor. I can see the wry smile on your face, Deputy Speaker Andrews. You know exactly what I'm talking about, and so do Australian women. This is why we take health care seriously. In the last 24 hours, we have announced over $500 million to help Australian women with their health. When I'm out in my electorate of Paterson, talking to people, and talking to women in their homes, health care is the No. 1 issue they raise with me. Whether they raise it for their children, for their parents or for themselves, health care is first past the post, every time. That's why I am so pleased to be part of a government that's taking health care seriously, and not just for women but for all Australians. We've launched our urgent care clinics, and they are making a marked difference. When you need care that may not require you to go to a hospital, but it is urgent, the urgent care clinic is the place to go. You can go there with your Medicare card, not a credit card, and that is so important.
That's why I have been campaigning and I am now running a terrific petition with my community, who are backing it in, saying, 'We want an urgent care clinic in Paterson.' Paterson is one of the fastest-growing areas in New South Wales. We have had so many people come to live in our beautiful part of the world, but we know the health care hasn't kept up. I'm so pleased to have the member for Newcastle sat beside me today, because she has been championing the new urgent care clinic that's just opened in Charlestown, that's helping take the pressure off the John Hunter Hospital. When we get our clinic in Paterson, in Maitland, it is going to help take the pressure off the Maitland Hospital as well. These things are just so important.
The other part of this is that we have been working to strengthen Medicare. We've been working to support our doctors. We've just made an enormous announcement: billions of dollars going into our hospitals. We know that our hospitals need to be better funded, so we are entirely pleased to put the money into the hospital system. We've made those announcements; it is happening. Labor gets that Australians want to be healthy from the cradle to the grave. We understand that a healthy life is the fullest life you can live, and we're prepared to fund that, unlike those opposite.
When the Leader of the Opposition was the minister for health, he was rated one of the worst. I think he and Tony Abbott shared the crown there. So many people were just aghast at the thought of a GP tax, of cutting funding for hospitals and making it harder to see a GP. Well, the government that you have now wants to support your health ambitions, we want people to be healthier and we are putting money into health care.
The other point I want to make is that in my seat of Paterson, since we've been in government in the last three years—I hear this: 'Are you better off?'—I know that nearly 70,000 more people have been able to be bulk-billed. It's up three per cent in my seat. Around Maitland and Port Stephens we are seeing bulk-billing on the rise, and I'm really grateful and pleased for that. We're going to keep campaigning and keep fighting for our urgent care clinic, so that more people will be able to be attended to promptly. We're going to keep putting money into our hospitals, and we're going to keep supporting our doctors. We support our nurses and know that they need to be well paid.
Health care is the thing that people absolutely value, and so do we as a government. We're not going to let people down, we're going to continue to support them on their health journey, and they can rely on an Albanese government to put health first, second and third.
