Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion moved by the member for Boothby. The Albanese Labor government is working hard to deliver the positive change that the nation and the people of Pearce in Western Australia voted for. After the wasted decade under the coalition, we are building a strong foundation for a better future for all Australians by strengthening Medicare. I know families are facing cost-of-living pressures, especially in my electorate, as they have had to think twice before visiting a GP for a regular check-up or refilling regular PBS scripts. For example, an elderly resident of Banksia Grove contacted my office very distressed as she had to change doctors and struggled to find one close by who bulk billed. A Eglinton resident also wrote to me expressing his concern that more than one-third of patients in Pearce can no longer access a bulk billed GP appointment. Many in the Pearce electorate have had to rely on the Dial-A-Doctor after-hours mobile service, which bulk bills, but, as it serves the whole community of Perth, the wait times are often very long.

My electorate is one of the fastest-growing and largest in Australia, growing by 8,000 new residents each year, so access to good medical services is of critical importance. We have a young generation. We have seniors in our community. We have families and singles. So, it's important that Medicare is working as effectively as it could be. I know of one young mother in Yanchep that stayed overnight at a friend's house in Eglinton simply so she could access services for her baby. These, unfortunately, are very clear examples of why the Albanese government is tripling the bulk-billing incentive for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

This historic investment will help over five million children and their families to see a bulk billed GP. It will also support more than seven million pensioners and concession cardholders. Together, these groups account for three out of every five visits to a GP. This has been welcomed by the health sector and GPs across Australia and is an absolute win for our most vulnerable citizens. We have also increased rebates more in a single year than the former government did in seven years. In addition to increasing the investment in bulk billing we are investing in a $1.5 billion indexation boost to every single Medicare rebate. This increases the amount that GPs receive for Medicare services, reducing the pressure to charge people more to get the health care that they need.

As for our GPs, they deserve more than our thanks after working tirelessly through the pandemic and continuing on with their good work. That is why we are also investing a further $2.2 billion into reforms that will strengthen Medicare into the future, including payments for GPs to grow their teams, new rebates for long consultations, easier access to telehealth and so much more.

We went into the election last year with a commitment to making medicines cheaper by dropping the maximum PBS copayment to $30. In government, we were given a mandate by the people to deliver on that promise, and we delivered on that promise. Australians have saved $118 million on more than 11 million cheaper prescriptions. This includes 646,963 in the electorate of Pearce. We are also creating urgent care clinics across the country. The urgent care clinic located in my electorate of Pearce will provide convenient bulk-billed medical care that is closer to home for families in our fast-growing outer metropolitan suburbs. I know that many families who have had to wait long hours to receive medical treatment for non-life-threatening issues now will be able to head to an urgent care clinic near them. I welcome the opening of the Medicare urgent care clinic expected to open from 7 August at the Ocean Keys Family Practice in Clarkson, and I applaud Dr Tim Koh and his team of dedicated staff.

Labor built Medicare, and we will always protect it while making it stronger so it continues to work for the people of our great nation. In just over a year, the Albanese government has achieved so much. We have come a long way, but there's still a lot more work to do.

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