Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

Only 10 nurses have ever served in this parliament, and three of them are in the chamber right now, including the terrific member for Bullwinkel. As a government committed to strengthening Medicare, we on this side are so lucky to have nurses, doctors, psychologists and a pharmacist all helping us to guide that important agenda.

Last week the member for Bullwinkel and I visited the Mount Helena medical practice, one of the GP clinics in her electorate that have already registered to become Medicare bulk-billing practices, bulk-billing all of their patients all of the time. Shortly we'll announce the location of the Mundaring urgent care clinic that the member for Bullwinkel promised at the last election. That's one of 47 clinics that we'll announce over the coming couple of weeks and will open over the coming couple of months, and it will take the network to 137 urgent care clinics. They're all open seven days a week, with extended hours, and, importantly, they're fully bulk-billing, so all you need to take along is your Medicare card. Once the network is fully up and running, it will see two million patients every single year, most of whom would otherwise have had to go to their local emergency department.

It's not just Bullwinkel that's benefiting from our strengthening Medicare agenda. That plan is working right across the great state of Western Australia. Take a seat like Forrest, for example. Already, 10 GP clinics in the electorate of Forrest have signed up as Medicare bulk-billing practices, bulk-billing all of their patients all of the time. Already the Bunbury urgent care clinic has seen more than 35,000 people, fully bulk-billed, taking pressure off the busy emergency department at the Bunbury hospital. Indeed, the Bunbury urgent care clinic has been so successful that at the last election we committed additional funds to help it boost staffing at busy times of the day. We also promised a Medicare mental health centre for Bunbury, and we'll deliver on that too.

I don't recall the opposition supporting either of those commitments, but we know that our strengthening Medicare agenda is working for the people of Forrest, which is why we were all so delighted to be in the electorate of Forrest last week. We were delighted to be in Bunbury, and we noticed the member for Forrest's van following us around, keen to hear the story of us strengthening Medicare for the people of Western Australia. The Prime Minister didn't just go to Bunbury. He went to Busselton as well and met with the Busselton Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and I can assure the member for Forrest that there will be many, many more visits back to the electorate of Forrest because we've got a great story to tell!

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