Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

It is really important. Those opposite could have incentivised GPs to go into our regions, but did they do it? No. Instead it look a Labor government to do that.

On this side of the chamber, we've made the largest investment in health care in our regions ever, with 90 urgent care clinics around the country, 31 of which are already delivered in our regions. We're investing in rural medical schools to help ensure more medical students can train and live in regional and rural communities, because we know, and the data tells us, that if they train in our regions they'll stay in our regions. There's a $90 million investment to help address healthcare shortages right across our regions. We are providing incentives for doctors and nurse practitioners by waiving their HECS fees, as I said.

Speaking of HECS, how are we helping more people to earn more and keep more of what they earn? Well, we're giving students across our regions a 20 per cent reduction in their HECS bills and we're making sure that more people are eligible for tax cuts than ever before—14 million taxpayers across our communities. Why do we want more people in our regions to keep more of the money they earn? It's because when they do they go and support local small businesses, which is incredibly important.

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