Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the 2025-26 additional estimates appropriation bills: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2025-2026 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026. Before making my remarks, I acknowledge I am making these remarks on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons who have joined us in the gallery today.

These bills propose additional annual appropriations to address funding requirements that have emerged since the 2025-26 budget and to support the implementation of government decisions that have been subsequently made and that have financial impacts in 2025-26. The bills include provisions to replenish the advance to the finance minister and the advance to the responsible presiding officer provided in the appropriation acts, which is a longstanding practice. These acts include the following advance to the finance minister and the advance to the responsible presiding officer provisions: $400 million in act 1, $600 million in act 2 and $1.9 million in parliamentary departments act 1, plus amounts allocated under the presiding officer provisions.

These bills contain funding for critical initiatives like 1800MEDICARE, free mental health services, environmental projects, support for multicultural communities, and other local community endeavours. Thanks to 1800MEDICARE, which launched in January this year, Australians now have even better access to free health advice. The registered nurses at 1800MEDICARE are there 24/7 to provide advice, assurance and care and to refer callers to the health service that they need, whether that is a regular GP, the local hospital or a Medicare urgent care clinic. These triage nurses will listen to concerns, assess symptoms and advise on next steps, so Australians who are feeling unwell, caring for someone or unsure of whether to seek medical help can call 1800MEDICARE. Triage nurses can also connect callers to a free telehealth session with a 1800MEDICARE GP via phone or video, with this service available all weekend and weeknights between 6 pm and 8 am. So, if required, by phone and in the comfort of your own home, a 1800MEDICARE GP can provide free care, like an emergency prescription for your regular medication or treatment for illness or injury. Just like urgent care clinics, 1800MEDICARE was deliberately designed not only to provide health care to Australians but to take pressure off hospitals. Estimates are that around 250,000 Australians will avoid a trip to a hospital emergency department each year, because of the health advice and services provided by 1800MEDICARE.

The Albanese government's Medicare Mental Health Check In is also a program the bills currently before the House are designed to support. Medicare mental health check-ins are now online, giving easy and free access to early support for Australians experiencing mild mental health challenges. This service forms part of the Albanese government's commitment to ensuring Australians can receive free mental health care when they need it. Over time, it is expected to help more than 150,000 people each year.

It is healthcare initiatives like 1800MEDICARE and Medicare Mental Health Check In that make the appropriation of funds in these bills so important. Sustainable investment in health care is a key item of this government's policy agenda, because it is the single most important factor in building the foundations of a productive economy. A healthy population underpins a healthy economy, and that healthy economy can stretch and grow and become more productive. This government's policy agenda is driven by the understanding and knowledge that health is an economic proposition and that propositions to promote better health for all Australians are economic imperatives. To cut or reduce health care would be to do a disservice to the Australian people and to the Australian economy.

Promoting and supporting local community endeavours is also a feature of this government's policy agenda because, when local communities thrive and grow, the country thrives and grows. In my electorate of Sturt, the fruits of this agenda have recently been realised in connection with educational facilities, climate resilience preparation and grassroots sport.

Last weekend, I attended the opening of the upgraded facilities in the St Morris Reserve. Thanks to the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters Council, those who attended the celebration enjoyed free gelati and a sausage sizzle, but they did so in the knowledge that the $20 million upgrade to the reserve would protect their properties and streets in the event of a significant flood or storm event.

The federal government contributed $9.9 million to this project as part of the Preparing Australian Communities Program, which targets projects that improve resilience against natural disasters. Through this program, the federal government is funding 158 projects to help Australians cope better with bushfires, floods and cyclones. These projects will make it easier not only to plan for disasters but to educate local communities about risks and to build, improve and protect buildings, roads, bridges and natural areas. This is designed to reduce the impact of disasters, to handle disasters better when they occur and, importantly, to recover faster when disasters happen. The first two months of 2026 have seen natural disasters take place across Australia, and climate change is making them worse. The targeted funding for this program is absolutely necessary to reduce the damage caused by disasters and to make recovery efficient and cost-effective.

There are four key elements to the Preparing Australian Communities Program: the social environment, which helps people work together to keep important services running; the economic environment, targeted at helping local businesses survive disasters; the built environment, protecting infrastructure like roads, houses and powerlines; and the natural environment, looking after nature such as forests and rivers.

In 2019 the future-focused council of the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters completed comprehensive city-wide flood plain mapping, identifying areas at risk of flooding. The mapping incorporated a range of future scenarios, including infill development and the continuing effects of climate change. Like the Albanese Labor government, the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters relies on the science and knows that climate change is real, and I am proud to be part of a federal government that partners with local communities to invest in resilient strategies so that the effects are minimised.

This project involved the construction of a detention basin in the reserve to temporarily detain water in the event of a major storm, to alleviate the risk of flooding to properties in the direct area and downstream. The construction of the detention basin altered the landscape of the reserve, making an ideal opportunity for the existing assets to be upgraded. The result is more green space, trees, a new playground, a public toilet, a basketball court, barbecues, picnic shelters, furniture, paths, landscaping and irrigation in a climate-resilient setting. Residents now have a one-in-100 risk of flooding and flood damage, compared to a one-in-20 risk prior to the project. That is targeted government funding with a discernible, sustainable outcome.

Also in my electorate of Sturt is the Burnside City Council, which is home to the mighty Kensington District Cricket Club and Burnside Rugby Union Club, which currently occupy separate ends of the same clubrooms, centrally located in beautiful Kensington Wama/Kensington Gardens Reserve. The existing clubrooms were constructed in two parts in 1950 and 1970, and I can attest firsthand that they are in a less-than-satisfactory condition and in dire need of an upgrade. Modern amenities are non-existent there, and they are just not suitable for the growing cohort of female cricket and rugby players.

The federal government has contributed $3.6 million to the upgrade of these new facilities, which will sit on the same footprint. Not only will the new facility be the home base for both the cricket club and the rugby club; it will also be beneficial to the community because of the breadth of what is happening. It will include six change rooms meeting universal design standards; accessible facilities including an elevator and ramp; a medical room; clubrooms with integrated bar and kitchen; and a gymnasium. The broader community will benefit from use of the gym and changing facilities; use of the main clubroom space, which can be configured for use as both a function venue and a flexible fitness and training studio; and, of course, access to the bar and canteen.

This development is being undertaken with the maximum possible benefit for the community as the key driver. Importantly for the growth and facilitation of women's sport, the new facility will enable greater participation for women, which has been limited for decades because of the poor condition of the current facility. Women play cricket and rugby too, and they should not have to do so in a substandard environment which screams 'afterthought'. The Kensington Wama redevelopment is a further example of this government's policy agenda with respect to health and fitness, community connection and active support for women and girls to play sport. It is deliberate, targeted funding which will have positive impacts for the broader community. I'm looking forward to attending the sod-turning ceremony next Tuesday, 17 February 2026, and to watching this development take shape.

What is really important to this government is to continue to find savings in the budget—noting that we've found $114 billion worth of savings to date and that finding savings of this magnitude is incredibly difficult. But we will continue to do this and continue to find ways to create efficiencies through restructuring government programs and drawing on new technologies. This is important because efficiencies and savings are preferable to cutting programs, which is the tone of the free advice that is often given to this government, often couched in the oversimplified suggestion of 'just cut spending'. The initiatives that I have outlined in health care, community climate resilience and grassroots community sports are the product of deliberate, targeted spending that no Australian wants to see reduced or cut. No Australian deserves that it be reduced or cut. The government has a duty to the people of Australia and to communities to provide these types of programs, and this government intends to continue to fulfil that duty. It is not frivolous spending that can just be cut. To the contrary, maintenance of that spending requires an offset of savings and creation of efficiencies in the budget to ensure it is sustainable, which is standard practice for this government.

The Treasurer and the Minister for Finance have quite rightly been absolutely clear and that we are looking at where we can find savings and efficiencies, and we will maintain the discipline to make absolutely sure that budget pressures are managed to ensure the continuity of these critical programs that Australians deserve. Health care, infrastructure, education, grassroots sports and community climate resilience are what Australians expect and what Australians deserve. Quite rightly, as a feature of good economic management, targeted savings, efficiencies and restructure will be a key part of the May 2026 budget.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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