Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Seven to 11 Mount Milman Drive, Smithfield—that is the address of the brand new urgent care clinic open for the north of Cairns. This election commitment was brought about by the people of Cairns and an army of volunteers who went door to door with a petition calling on the north of Cairns to grab an urgent care clinic. This is democracy in action. The people called for it, we were able to commit it and now we have delivered.

What was really rewarding was the amount of volunteers who would come out in the tropical heat—and the heat in a Far North Queensland summer is not to be trifled with—and, through the heat, the humidity and the rain, go door to door saying, 'Can we grab an urgent care clinic for the northern suburbs of Cairns?' It's important, and the reason it's important is once again our North Queensland weather. The northern suburbs of Cairns can pull from Mossman and Kuranda. We know that people were travelling from those places all the way down to Edmonton for their urgent care, but now they only have to go as far as Smithfield. We also found that during Tropical Cyclone Jasper, and, with the severity of these weather events, sometimes the highway gets cut off. Now we have the ability to get quick care, urgent care, right close to home without having to traverse a flooded highway to get to the emergency department.

Over 39,000 people have attended the urgent care clinic in south Cairns. That's 39,000 people that didn't wind up waiting in ED, taking pressure off the Cairns base hospital. I know that the doctors, nurses and admin staff there are very grateful for that to be taken off their plates. We expect similar numbers to come through the north of Cairns. This has been a really proud moment, not just for me but for all of the volunteers involved, who went out, got those signatures and can now see the fruits of their labour. It has been a very rewarding time in Cairns.

Additionally— (Time expired)

See this speech in context