I believe so, Deputy Speaker. Imagine going to your doctor because you're in pain, only to be told that that's normal. You go home, you get on with things and you try not to make a fuss. But that pain doesn't go away. Months pass—sometimes, years—before someone finally listens and you get an answer. For too many Australian women, that experience is painfully familiar. Whether it's endometriosis, menopause or another health concern, women have spent far too long being told that what they're experiencing is simply part of being a woman, and I think we need to ask ourselves why we accepted that for such a long time.

I'm pleased to support this motion, because women deserve to have their health taken seriously and to have real choices about their care. The Albanese government's $800 million Women's Health Package is helping to make that happen. Since March last year, more than one million women have accessed cheaper prescriptions for contraception, menopause and endometriosis, saving more than $150 million. That's money back in household budgets at a time when every dollar counts. It's about more than just saving money. It's about women being able to choose the treatment that's right for them, rather than the one that they can afford. For the first time in more than 30 years, new contraceptive pills have been added to the PBS. Higher Medicare rebates are also making IUDs and contraceptive implants more affordable.

For women living with endometriosis, these changes are particularly important. It's years missing school, struggling through work and cancelling plans because of pain without understanding why it's happening. More than 11,000 women have accessed endometriosis treatments now at PBS prices, including treatments that previously cost up to $2,700 a year. All 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics are now open across Australia, with services expanded to include perimenopause and menopause care. Endometriosis is something that has been spoken about a lot more in the last 18 months than I think I've ever heard it spoken about in the other 38 years of my life. Finally, we are able to talk about this at a national level, in media. It's not something that is hidden away. It's not something that women need to feel ashamed of. I think that is something that we need to celebrate as a nation.

We really are leading the way not just on endometriosis but also on menopause. For some women, menopause might mean sleepless nights, anxiety, brain fog and symptoms that can completely disrupt their lives. And yet, for generations, like endometriosis, it was barely discussed, with many women trying to work out for themselves what was happening to them. Now, more than 137,000 women have accessed Medicare funded menopause health assessments, and new hormone therapies are available through the PBS. These practical changes do make an enormous difference to people's quality of life. I have colleagues that I've worked with in the past who thought they were going crazy. They were told they were going crazy by their family. But, when they got the help and the medicine that they needed, they could feel themselves again. And it was years until they felt that way.

In regional Tasmania, as you well know, getting the care you need is not always straightforward. An appointment might mean travelling for hours, taking time off work or finding someone to look after the kids. After so many of these women have already spent years trying to get answers, those extra barriers—that travel, that cost, that time—can be exhausting, and they can make you put it off for even longer. That's why making this treatment more affordable and supporting more health professionals to provide services locally is so deeply important. I also want to acknowledge my friend and Tasmanian colleague, the member for Lyons, Bec White, who has been such a strong advocate and voice for improving women's health care. Bec understands the challenges, as we do, facing regional families, and I'm deeply, deeply grateful for the work that she's put into this.

There is still so much more to do, but I hope we're moving towards a future where women don't have to spend years convincing someone that their pain is real, where they can make informed choices about their treatment without cost standing in the way and where every woman who walks into a medical appointment knows that she deserves to and will be heard, believed and cared for. I commend this motion to the House.