Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Access to health care is top of mind for people in my community of Jagajaga. We're fortunate to be home to some of Melbourne's best medical institutions, including the Austin, the Repat, the ONJ, the Mercy and many more. Local health care matters, and that's why investing in local services and strengthening Medicare locally is so important for my community. Because for the families, the seniors and the young people I represent, access to affordable health care is not a luxury; it is essential. That is why this government, the Albanese Labor government, has put people and access at the heart of our reforms to strengthen Medicare, and it's why we are already seeing a difference in communities in Jagajaga.

For the first time in decades, we are making bulk-billing viable again after it was allowed to languish under those opposite. We have expanded the bulk-billing incentives for GPs so that these incentives apply across the board, encouraging more GPs to make sure that people can see the doctor for a bulk-billed visit. We are seeing this have an effect in Jagajaga. More practices in Jagajaga are now bulk-billing patients, and I'm encouraging even more of our local GP clinics to take up this incentive so that this becomes the norm rather than the exception.

I recently visited Greensborough Medical & Dental Centre in Greensborough, which is one of our wonderful local practices and was one of the first clinics in our community to switch to full bulk-billing for GP visits. It was really heartening to talk to Alicia, the practice manager there, who told me that every day she is seeing how this change is making life easier for local families. People are not having to choose what in their budget they have to take out to pay to see a GP, and that is how it should be in Australia. That is how health care works in Australia. It is why Labor set up Medicare, and it is why we continue to strengthen and back Medicare. So, as I said, I encourage more GP practices across Jagajaga to take up this opportunity and to further expand access for our community.

In Jagajaga, we are also benefiting from a new Medicare urgent care clinic in Eltham. It's making a real difference for people in that part of my electorate. This is walk-in care for when you need it urgently—those times when your child might have had an accident at sport, it's late at night and the other clinics aren't open. I've had such positive feedback about this clinic. One local told me she had a fantastic experience and had avoided waiting at the Austin Hospital in emergency for the hours that, unfortunately, often takes. So this clinic is a wonderful addition to our local health care. The one in Eltham joins the one that we already have in Burgundy Street, in Heidelberg. As I said, I consistently get good feedback about this investment we are making locally for access to good, affordable health care and the work that this government is doing to strengthen Medicare.