Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My word it does on many late nights coming home at two or three o’clock in the morning after travelling to various rural communities throughout the electorate. To the west of Gladstone is a community called Emerald, a bustling community full of good people, full of hard-working families who are involved in the development of the coal industry in the community of Flynn. Unfortunately for the people of Emerald, for many years now they have not been provided with a Medicare office and substantial difficulties have arisen as a result of that. As I said, I am pleased to be part of a government that has delivered a basic piece of infrastructure to the community of Emerald. The announcement was well received by the community and they are very grateful to the Rudd Labor government for delivering on that pre-election commitment. I would like to ask the minister about the finer detail—that is, when will the Medicare office be opened in Emerald and when will Medicare services be delivered to the community of Emerald?

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