Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor created Medicare and Labor has always set about making bulk-billing stronger. In the ACT, bulk-billing rates are among the lowest in the nation, and we've worked assiduously since coming to government to boost bulk-billing rates for Canberrans. We're now seeing fully bulk-billing clinics reopening across Canberra, revitalising that promise that, when you go to a Canberra doctor, you can show just your Medicare card and not need to pull out your credit card. We've increased bulk-billing incentives so they cover all patients, and provided additional incentives to fully bulk-billing practices. We're also funding a $24 million plan to roll out three fully bulk-billing clinics right across the ACT. Labor created Medicare, and only Labor will strengthen bulk-billing in Canberra.

The National Broadband Network was an invention of the Rudd and Gillard governments that was left on hold when the coalition government decided that running fibre cables to the box in the street would be good enough. But we know now, with more people working from home and an average of 25 devices connected to the internet in a typical household, that you need fibre to the premises to make it work. That's why, here in the ACT, Labor is rolling out broadband to 97,000 more Canberra homes. That's 2,500 kilometres of additional fibre cable, ensuring people can work from home and do teleconferences, online education and telehealth. We're ensuring that the National Broadband Network is available to more Canberra businesses and more Canberra households.

Here in the ACT, we're also ensuring that cheaper home batteries are available to more Canberrans; 4,500 Canberra households have taken up a battery in order to bottle that solar energy and put downward pressure on their energy prices. Cheaper home batteries have been rolled out right across the ACT, with many households taking advantage of the moment to upgrade their solar installations. With solar and batteries, households are able to bring down their energy bills and have less impact on the environment. I've appreciated the jobs that that's created and the chance to meet apprentices in workshops in Fyshwick and Mitchell, and I know more work is going on across the ACT. Cheaper home batteries are a Labor legacy which will be vital in reducing pressure on the grid and reducing the household bill pressure that Canberrans face.

Subscription traps are one of the issues that Canberrans have spoken to me about repeatedly. We know that subscription traps are a scourge for many households who sign up to subscriptions only to find they can't cancel as easily as they got in. Whether it's an online service or a local gym, people want to be able to cancel their subscriptions with an ease that reflects modern society.