Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor created Medicare, and now this once-in-a-generation change to bulk-billing will mean that more Territorians can see a doctor for free with no out-of-pocket expenses. That's right; bulk-billing is back, baby!

I visited the Top End Medical Centre in Casuarina, and they confirmed that Territorians are appreciating the assistance with the cost of living through access to a GP for free in their clinics. Dr Marilou Capati, from Top End Medical Centre—which has four clinics across Darwin and Palmerston, in my electorate—said:

We are proud to return to full bulk-billing, giving our patients in Casuarina and across Darwin access to essential healthcare without worrying about out-of-pocket costs.

Our team is committed to providing high-quality care to our community, and these reforms will help clinics like ours remain sustainable while meeting growing demand.

More people in Darwin and Palmerston can now see a GP with no out-of-pocket costs. More than 20 GP practices in Darwin and Palmerston, in my electorate, have registered to become fully bulk-billing clinics from 1 November as part of the Albanese Labor government's historic $8.5 billion investment in Medicare.

Our Medicare investment represents the largest single boost to Medicare in more than 40 years. We are delivering on the promise of more bulk-billing and more doctors. We are also investing in hundreds of nursing scholarships and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program in Australia's history—including in my electorate, with positions at the new CDU medical school. Since we tripled the investment in bulk-billing we have seen a turnaround in bulk-billing rates in the Northern Territory, with a 10 per cent increase from 71.5 per cent to 78.6 per cent—or around 89,000 additional visits. That's a big deal. Our investment in bulk-billing for all Australians is part of our commitment to strengthen Medicare. Labor created Medicare and the Albanese government will always strengthen Medicare.

Our government is also delivering on its commitment for the Darwin Medicare urgent care clinics. The tender process to identify a provider to operate the new Darwin urgent care clinic closed in October. This clinic will be open over extended hours, seven days a week, with no appointment needed, and all patients will be fully bulk-billed. The clinic will service Darwin and will help take pressure off the Royal Darwin Hospital, filling an important gap in services across extended hours and over the weekend. This follows on from the massive success of the Palmerston Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, which has already had around 30,000 presentations. The government's expression of interest opened at the beginning of the month to identify a provider for a new 120-bed residential-care home in greater Darwin. More accommodation support for senior Territorians and getting our elders out of hospital has been a major priority for me. It is providing dignity and is another way we are going to free up hospital beds at Royal Darwin Hospital and Palmerston Regional Hospital.

And there's more. Darwin's headspace centre upgraded to a headspace Plus and to a youth specialist care centre in Darwin for young people with very complex needs—psychotic disorders, complex eating disorders, personality disorders and so forth. This is on top of the 30 per cent increase in health funding for Territory hospitals in this financial year. We're going into a period of negotiations for that agreement but we won't be going backwards.

I was proud to deliver a number of commitments for Darwin and Palmerston at the election. Some of these commitments included the Zuccoli Community Hub, in Palmerston, and the early childhood education and care centre in Karama, to name a few. There's heaps happening in my electorate of Solomon, and it's all for the best for the duty of care we have to people living in the capital of the north.

House adjourned at 20:00