Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. What's the Albanese Labor government doing to increase the supply of doctors and encourage more doctors to be GPs? How does training more GPS help strengthen Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect?

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

I thank the member for Macquarie for her question and also her relentless advocacy for an urgent care clinic in her community. I'm delighted, because she told me the Hawkesbury urgent care clinic opened last week—the 123rd clinic—and it is already operating very, very well.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I'm not sure you really want it. You've got to want it harder than that. When we came to government we inherited a position where it had never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor than it was under those opposite, and we were utterly determined to turn that around. Our Strengthening Medicare agenda has four pillars—more bulk-billing, more urgent care clinics, cheaper medicines and more doctors—and we're delivering on all of them. As the member for Macquarie said, under the former government, doctor numbers simply were not keeping pace with the population that is growing, is getting older and is experiencing more chronic disease. We've turned that around. We've expanded the number of medical school places to train more young Australians as doctors. Cairns now has end-to-end medical training thanks to this government, the Northern Territory has its first ever medical school getting up and running this year, and 10 other universities were granted approval by the Minister for Education this year to expand their medical school numbers, with more to come in 2028. We're also cutting red tape and fees for doctors from all around the world who want to come and practise here, particularly from countries whose training systems we have high levels of confidence in, such as the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and others. All of this means we've seen a huge increase in the number of new registrations for medical practitioners—up almost 50 per cent on the position before the COVID pandemic.

But I have also been clear, as the member for Macquarie said, that I want to see more junior doctors take up training in general practice—the backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system—which is why I was so delighted to join the college of GPs and the College of Rural and Remote Medicine in the electorate of Spence the other day to announce that a record number of junior doctors are starting their training as GPs this year. Last year was a record, and this year is another record. This year, 2,100 junior doctors are starting their training as GPs or rural generalists, 500 more than the intake under those opposite, and half of them are training outside our big cities.

More doctors, more bulk-billing, more urgent care clinics and cheaper medicines—that's what's delivering a stronger Medicare for all Australians.