Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A lack of courage! What a fascinating statement—a lack of courage. Can I just say that it was the courage of this Albanese Labor government that invested in Medicare after 10 years of Liberal-National neglect. They decimated our universal healthcare system, making it harder and more expensive for people to see a doctor, whether that be to access a GP, pathology, imaging or an emergency department. They chronically underfunded our nation's hospitals through the national health agreement. It was an absolute travesty.

I still vividly remember—this is pre COVID—standing in the emergency department, looking out through the window, and there was a TV in the waiting room. And I remember the former member for Cook, the then prime minister of Australia, continuing to parrot the lines that the Liberal-National government were continuing to invest in primary health care, in the health care of Australians and in Medicare. I looked around in that waiting room and I looked around at the sick people who couldn't access health care because it had been chronically underfunded, and that was part of a tipping point for me. That was part of a moment that—like the member for Goldstein just said—made me a Labor MP. That made me put up my hand, doorknock tens of thousands of houses, talk to constituents right across my electorate, talk to people in Dobell and in Shortland—the great Central Coast region of New South Wales—and say, 'Hey, this isn't good enough.' People are waiting too long in EDs. People can't see a GP. People can't get access to the pathology services and imaging services that they need to live long, happy, healthy and productive lives. And that's what made me run for parliament.

When we heard the first speeches of some of these amazing Labor members who sit in this chamber here today, they talked about the importance of Medicare, because it is important. It is important. Medicare is important, and bulk-billing is the beating heart of Medicare; it is the beating heart of Australia. It's what allows us to do the things that we want to do and not have to worry that going to the doctor, going to the hospital or having surgery is going to bankrupt us and send us onto the street. That's why Medicare exists.

It's not just about Medicare. The whole package of health care that this Albanese Labor government has brought forward in both the 47th parliament and now the 48th parliament is one for the history books. It is fantastic. We are looking at making sure that pathology and imaging services are more widely available for the Australian people. But let's talk about urgent care. If you're too sick for the GP but not sick enough for the ED, now you've finally got somewhere to go, and it's bulk-billed. I can only imagine what those opposite would do if they decided to set up some sort of network like that. You would be paying for it and you would be paying deep into your pockets for a privatised health system, and that is just not good enough.

Let's move on from urgent care; let's talk about the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive. I know that, following the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive—which is now going to be expanded to every Medicare card holder to make sure that we can improve access to bulk-billing right across this country so that people can access a GP—preventive healthcare is important. It stops people going to the emergency department in the middle of the night. We treat the hypertension. We treat the hypercholesterolaemia. That stops it from becoming a myocardial infarction. That stops it from becoming a CVA. That stops people from becoming critically unwell and needing those tertiary- or quaternary-level services. That's what general practice and preventive care is all about. I support our GPs on the Central Coast and right across Australia, and I know that the Albanese Labor government supports our general practitioners, through the tripling of that incentive.

There is one more thing I want to talk about that I think is important and that has been chronically underfunded for decades, to be frank, by governments of every persuasion, but particularly by the former Liberal-National coalition government. That is investment in women's health care. Investment in women's health care is so important, not just for the fact that women make up half the population of Australia but for the fact that the chronic underfunding of women's health care has meant time off work and significant morbidity and, in some cases, mortality in the female population. That's just not good enough.

Out-of-control misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of endometriosis impacts lives. It impacts lives and it impacts families, and, quite frankly, the chronic underfunding of women's health care under the previous government was just not good enough. It took our prime minister, our cabinet and our majority-female Labor government to take a stand and to say, 'That's not good enough, and we need to invest in women's health care.' It's the endometriosis clinics. It's the pelvic pain clinics. It's access to contraceptive options. It's making sure that, when women see the GP, they can actually see the GP for a timeframe wherein they can actually address the issues that affect women in their lives and affect women in their health care journey. And I believe that is really, really important.

Locally, on the Central Coast, there are those federal policies, but there are also the local policies. We are investing millions of dollars in our maternity services on the Central Coast, making sure that, after the closure of our private hospital, women have choice about where they can give birth, making sure they don't have to go to Newcastle, making sure they don't have to go to Sydney. They can give birth in our public hospital, Gosford Hospital. We're making sure there is up-to-date, world-class infrastructure in our maternity and birthing units. We're making sure that our gynaecology and our colposcopy clinics are adequately funded and making sure that people have access in our public hospitals to world-class, world-leading obstetrics and gynaecology services.

I'll make a final point, on what has often been a taboo subject in Australia: mental health. Under this government, in the last parliament and now in this parliament, we are making sure that we are talking about mental health and that we are investing in mental health. That is a really important part of the healthcare journey of a patient. My good friend the assistant minister and member for Dobell, Emma McBride, along with the broader health caucus, and the Prime Minister and every Labor member in the parliament have backed the introduction of the Medicare mental health centres. These will be walk-in clinics where you can access psychologists, where you can access counsellors, where you can talk to people—bulk-billed, importantly—about your mental health issues and either have them addressed onsite or be referred to a specialist pathway. Ultimately, that will reduce the disease burden not just on yourself but also on our society more generally.

For the member for Goldstein to come in here and talk about us underinvesting in Medicare, despite everything that we did in the 47th Parliament and despite everything we are doing now—one of the first pieces of legislation this fortnight was to cut the cost of medicines. As Minister Butler, the Minister for Health and Ageing, continues to say, bulk-billing is the beating heart of Medicare, and Medicare is the beating heart of Australia. It truly is. I know, as the Labor member for Robertson, I will continue to support universal health care. I will continue to support cheaper medicines. I will continue to support the expansion of women's health care and access to health care. I will continue to support our mental health services. I will continue to support our public hospitals. These are important not just to the Central Coast but to New South Wales and Australia more broadly.

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