David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to discuss the appropriation bills. We've heard from the health minister recently that the work the government is undertaking on bulk-billing is ensuring our bulk-billing rates are climbing and are back on the right track after years of lost investment under the previous government. In just three months, we have seen the bulk-billing rate for all Australians jumped to 81.4 per cent nationwide. That is the largest quarterly bulk-billing jump in 20 years, outside of the COVID pandemic. To put this into more practical terms, this increase in bulk-billing and bulk-billing practices means that approximately 96 per cent of Australians are now within a 20-minute drive of a registered Medicare bulk-billing practice.

But the ACT does face its own unique challenges when it comes to bulk-billing. While the relatively small uptick in bulk-billing in the ACT is welcome, there is more work to do. It's also one of the reasons I welcomed one of Australia's newest Medicare urgent care clinics in my electorate of Bean in the Woden Valley. This clinic opened in December of last year and strengthens the already existing network of clinics across the territory. It is the first in the ACT to be GP led. It's close proximity to Canberra Hospital means that it will work to take pressure off the emergency department at Canberra Hospital. I look forward to the tender being finalised for the three bulk-billing clinics that we committed to during the 2025 election. These clinics will be critical to providing greater access to affordable and accessible health care in Canberra.

This will soon be joined by more mental health support for Canberra parents. New and expectant Canberra parents will get free, personalised mental health support, with a new perinatal mental health centre to be established in Tuggeranong in Bean. The Albanese government funded centre will offer Canberran families support during the vital perinatal period, from pregnancy through to the baby's first birthday. This is a time when up to one in five women and one in 10 men experience anxiety and/or depression. The centre will help meet local demand for mental health care and provide psychological services with no out-of-pocket costs. This is in addition to the supports already provided by the Tuggeranong Medicare Mental Health Centre, an important avenue for those in my community to access mental health information, services and supports from qualified professionals over extended hours. Anyone can reach out for support for themselves, a loved one or a patient. It is free and no appointment or referral is needed.

But investments in health care do not stop just there. The Albanese government has made record investments in our healthcare system, reaching new agreements with the states and territories to deliver record funding into the hospital system. Here in the ACT, it will mean an additional $557 million boost to hospital funding, alongside additional funding of $75 million to assist with the challenges of being a smaller jurisdiction. This is part of a package that is worth over $4 billion in the ACT. The Albanese government has also established 1800MEDICARE, because life isn't nine to five, and neither should be access to health advice. This new phone line offers free advice and out-of-hours telehealth, backed by Medicare.

You should be able to get the medicine you need without worrying about the cost. That's why Labor is making prescription medication cheaper by slashing the cost of medicines listed on the PBS. From January, that has meant it's no more than $25 per script and just $7.70 for concession card holders. You will have heard many members on this side of the chamber, as well as key stakeholders, discuss the importance of this policy. This is from a Pharmacy Guild media release:

Every week, more than 400,000 prescriptions will now cost no more than $25—putting up to $6.60 back in patients' pockets for every prescription. It makes medicine the most affordable it's ever been.

It also stated:

The cost of medicine for those without a concession card is reducing to $25. That's the lowest amount since 2004 and only the second time in history that the price of medicine in Australia has been reduced.

These are direct quotes not from the government but from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and their national president, Trent Twomey.

I was able to recognise these changes with the award-winning Wanni White Coats, the team down at Capital Chemist Wanniassa, led by Elise and Honor. I've risen in this chamber previously to acknowledge their incredible work. Joining them last December, I was able to directly hear from them how these record changes to the PBS will really help our community. Like many community pharmacies, they had noticed the cost pressures on constituents and had advocated for change.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to say that this pharmacy isn't the only award-winning pharmacy in Bean, with the team at Capital Chemist Mawson receiving Guild Pharmacy of the Year in 2024 and the team at Coleman Court being recognised for the same award in 2025. Knowing that I am, as part of the Albanese Labor government, able to support the work of these wonderful teams is one of the many privileges of my position.

Deputy Speaker Chesters, if you would allow me, I would like to take this chance to recognise my local schools across Bean and let them know that the Albanese Labor government has their backs. We have great schools across Bean, underpinned by dedicated and caring principals, educators and staff and supported by volunteers and P&Cs. Whilst it's a little overdue, I wish to welcome back all the local schools in Bean for the 2026 school year.

To my local schools, a new school year brings fresh opportunities along with new challenges, and your ongoing commitment to creating a safe, inclusive and engaging environment for students is truly valued. It's a busy time of year for parents, particularly in term 1, as they worry about setting up their children for the new year with stationery, uniforms and restarting the school lunches and routine. But the good news is that the Albanese Labor government is giving parents one less thing to worry about by making sure all schools will be fully funded no matter where you live.

This increase in funding represents an extra $16.5 billion over the next decade and an extra $49 billion in the decade after that, meaning millions of extra dollars being invested in schools, teachers, educators and students right across Bean. This is the biggest new investment in public schools by any Australian government, and it will ensure that students get the best start to schooling not just across local schools in Bean but right across the country. Just over in Whitlam—not only a great prime minister but one of our newest suburbs in Bean—last month, the Albanese and ACT governments announced that they have reached a historic agreement, delivering $10 million through the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund to deliver more not-for-profit early learning at the Whitlam School in Canberra. This Albanese Labor government funding will go towards building a new early childhood education and care service at the new Whitlam School, delivering 130 new early childhood education and care places for families in 2028. This is a crucial investment being provided in the fastest-growing area of our community, and I wish to thank the federal health minister and the ACT deputy chief minister, Yvette Berry MLA, for this investment. It again highlights the importance of having two strong, united Labor governments working together for our community.

Over the last month, the ACT federal Labor team have been out welcoming back students to campuses and talking to them about how the Albanese Labor government is supporting all aspects of the tertiary education system. Labor promised to cut student debt, and now the Albanese Labor government is delivering. Australians with student debt, including HECS-HELP, VET and TAFE loans will have seen a 20 per cent reduction—no application, no forms, just real cost-of-living relief. We have made free TAFE permanent, opening the door to secure work for more young people right across my community. At the same time we've increased the HECS and HELP loan repayment threshold, so students get to keep more of what they earn before repayments kick in. We are paying students on prac for key degrees such as nursing, midwifery and social work so that they're able to complete their training without those extra economic stresses. I enjoyed being at the Australian National University recently to directly speak with students about how these changes will help ensure they have access to quality education and the opportunities that that provides, without having to stress about the expenses that can too often be incurred receiving that education.

I also want to talk a little more about what the Albanese government is doing to assist those taking up a trade because, as we all know, the only way we can build Australia's future is by investing in those who will be the ones building that future. We are boosting support for apprentices, delivering a $10,000 bonus to housing, construction and clean energy apprentices so more tradies can finish their training under the Key Apprenticeship Program. I was able to hear firsthand last month how this funding is making a real difference on the ground.

I was able to meet with Liam and Max, apprentices working in my electorate of Bean, last month at a at a building site in Torrens and hear about how this program and other government incentives have enabled them to get on with their training. When asked what he was going to be able to use the KAP for, Liam said that he would be using it to buy new tools so that he could be more useful on site, learn new skills and service his car. He said it would help cover rent and the cost of living while he trains to develop the skills that will help build our community. Max said that the incentives had already come in handy for him and spoke about how it takes a weight off your shoulders when you know that, as an apprentice, you will be buying tools and a vehicle for work. It is really handy to have support from the government to progress with your apprenticeship and get the things you need. Paul, managing director of Exceed Homes, who employs these two apprentices, echoed these sentiments and reinforced that the structure of the program, with payments being spaced out over the program, means that there is assistance there to ensure that apprentices get through their apprenticeship and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I would not only like to thank Paul and the team for having me on site but also for the work that they do right across the community.

There is always a lot of talk about government funding in an abstract sense, with huge figures discussed at a national scale, but this is what these numbers mean in my local community. These are real, practical changes that have been provided to my community. These are real, practical improvements delivered to the hip pocket right across my community. These are real, practical improvements to the lives of those in my community. It is these changes and these stories that are why I'm passionate about continuing the work that we started in our previous term. The Albanese Labor government has introduced a broad range of supports and programs to address the cost of living. We know that there's more work to do in 2026, and we're committed to doing more of the same.

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