Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Lalor's motion to strengthen Medicare. I welcome the investment being made. I want to make sure that my community's voice is heard and not left behind.

Yes, Medicare is being strengthened. Yes, we've seen commitment to bulk-billing, urgent care clinics, hospital funding and improvements in women's health and diagnostics. I thank the government for listening to my community's advocacy and for committing $80 million to Fairfield Hospital during the recent May election. It's much-needed help, and help that I know the opposition also wanted to match. But, for my community, these efforts are only beginning. On the ground in south-west Sydney, Medicare is not working as it should, and my electorate of Fowler is one of the hardest hit. Families in Fowler are telling me they can't find a bulk-billing clinic and, when they can, appointments are booked out for weeks. Many are forced to pay an average of $42 out of pocket per visit—a cost they simply cannot afford.

We have some of the lowest GP-to-population ratios in the country. Practices are struggling to recruit doctors, and many GPs currently serving our community are nearing retirement with not enough younger doctors coming in to replace them. Medical professionals are choosing to work in other parts of Sydney where they can charge more and sustain their practices more easily. Meanwhile, our population continues to grow rapidly.

These aren't just statistics; these are everyday struggles for people in my community. For many families in Fowler, the choice is between seeing a doctor and putting food on the table. The median income in Fowler is 35 per cent lower than the national average, and nearly 80 per cent of residents speak a language other than English at home. That diversity is our strength, but it also creates barriers in health access. Language differences can lead to misdiagnosis and delays. Cultural misunderstandings can discourage people from seeking help, especially for mental health, and many of our residents have come from backgrounds of trauma, displacement and upheaval. They carry not just physical illness but deep emotional burdens that require culturally informed care. So, when we talk about strengthening Medicare, I say that that must mean meeting people where they are.

That's why I call on the government to go further. Firstly, match the New South Wales Labor government's $550 million commitment to Fairfield Hospital. Our local hospital is chronically underfunded and overstretched. A one-off injection of $80 million is helpful, but it doesn't reflect the level of need in one of the most disadvantaged regions in the country. Secondly, invest in recruiting and retaining GPs in south-western and Western Sydney. Here, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. The government already uses the Modified Monash Model, or MMM, to classify and support rural and remote communities. Through the Workforce Incentive Program, doctors and practices in MM 3 to MM 7 areas receive location based payments, rural loadings and support for hiring nurses, midwives and allied health staff. These programs have been successful in improving health access in regional areas. So I say let's replicate this model in urban areas like Fowler where healthcare access is just as urgent, because the needs in Fairfield and Liverpool are vastly different to those in Fairlight or Lindfield, and our policies must reflect that reality.

Finally, we need a multicultural healthcare centre in Fowler—a one-stop shop with bilingual staff and interpreters and culturally tailored mental health care—because in many CALD communities mental health is understood very differently from the mainstream, and we need outreach programs that genuinely connect with people's lived experience. This is not just about better health; it's about equity, dignity and inclusion.

If we're serious about strengthening Medicare, then we must look beyond national averages and focus on communities like mine, where the gap between need and access is growing wider every day. Let's not leave places like Fowler behind.

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