Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How is the Albanese Labor government's investment in Medicare urgent care clinics helping Australians to get urgent care when they need it? How do urgent care clinics help strengthen Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No! No. The member for Lyne will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Lyne then left the chamber.

Honourable members interjecting—

No. She's had a pretty good go this week. Order! It may be Thursday, but everyone's still got to follow the rules.

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

It just reminds us that the leadership, the frontbench, of those opposite hate urgent care clinics. Their backbench, though, are very supportive of them—constantly advocating for one, sending us emails and starting up petitions! If only their frontbench let them get what they want!

But I thank the member for Cunningham for her question and for her advocacy for a stronger Medicare in the Illawarra, particularly in Wollongong. She is a fierce advocate for strengthening Medicare, but also, I have to say, a really fierce advocate for better aged-care services. She understands the aged-care sector incredibly well and is constantly talking to me and to the aged-care minister about how we can improve things for her community, and I thank her for that.

I also know that she is incredibly appreciative of the record investment in bulk-billing. Can I say that, in just the last week, the number of bulk-billing clinics in her electorate hasn't just doubled; it hasn't just tripled; it has quadrupled, in just a week. We've seen a big increase in the neighbouring electorate of Whitlam as well—a big increase in bulk-billing for the people of the Illawarra.

She is also a great advocate for the Corrimal urgent care clinic in Wollongong. Already that has seen 30,000 people from her community, all fully bulk-billed, getting high-quality urgent care. She pointed out that there was a particularly high-profile patient there recently: the health reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote a piece this morning, titled 'I thought Albo's urgent care clinics were a waste—until I needed one'! And, with all of the zeal you would expect from a convert, he then went on to describe a very unfortunate incident where his surfboard went into his foot, and cut it quite considerably, on the weekend. He went into the Corrimal urgent care clinic, which he found on his phone. He received incredibly high-quality urgent care, completely free of charge. As I say, I thanked him for it. He's written this very fine piece promoting what is a terrific initiative for a stronger Medicare for the whole country.

We have two urgent care clinics in the Illawarra already—30,000 people through the Corrimal urgent care clinic, and 20,000 through the Dapto urgent care clinic, in the neighbouring electorate of Whitlam. Rounding it out, in the coming couple of weeks we'll be in a position to announce the provider for the Shellharbour urgent care clinic, in the southern part of the Illawarra, as well. That's just one of the 50 urgent care clinics we promised across the country at the last election. Three of them are already open. I'm confident the rest of them will be opened over the course of this summer—hopefully, as many as possible by Christmas. Once that is done, two million people—like the health reporter from the SMHevery single year will get that high-quality urgent care. (Time expired)