Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Payman, and thank you very much for the question and the opportunity to talk about something that Australians are deeply interested in, which is the strength of the Australian healthcare system and, in particular, the Medicare system.

Australians expect and deserve access to quality and affordable health care. That is what our government and those on this side are seeking to deliver because we are the party of Medicare. We have always supported Medicare, unlike those opposite who we know historically opposed Medicare and have had to, grudgingly, over the years, start to tell people that they actually support it, because they knew it was politically unsustainable for them to continue to oppose it. Four decades on, the party that created Medicare is strengthening it. We promised at the election that we would deliver 50 Medicare urgent care clinics and we are delivering. Expressions of interest have opened. The first of the clinics will be treating patients this year. They will offer bulk-billed services and open for extended hours.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You hate this, don't you? You really hate Australians getting access to better health care. The fact that people actually believe that a public health system is a good thing—it's anathema to the Liberal Party, isn't it? They don't want to know how this government is strengthening it. And let's remember that this is the party that was led by a man who cut $50 billion from hospitals. Peter Dutton, as health minister, cut $50 billion from hospitals, tried to introduce a $7 GP tax and secretly launched—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Cash and Senator Ruston!

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our 50 urgent-care clinics will help take the burden off public hospitals.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payman, a first supplementary question?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Payman, for the question. We on this side understand that the pandemic made clear that governments need to work together to deliver the care Australians deserve. That's why our government committed $100 million to co-develop and pilot innovative ways to improve care with states and territories. In Queensland the government is using the funding to expand its Care Collective initiative. This will improve coordination in the health system, specifically for people living with chronic and complex healthcare needs. In Western Australia the nurse practitioner and team based care pilot will fund 20 nurse practitioners over two years, who will work with other—

I'll take the interjection from the other side. I would have thought you'd be interested in what's happening in Western Australia and Queensland, but clearly not. These practitioners will work with other health professionals to diagnose and treat a wide range of health conditions, and their services will be free.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payman, a second supplementary question?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator. The government is strengthening Medicare, which is required after nine years of cuts and neglect, and we've set up the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce to help better support patients who have ongoing and chronic illness. We have already committed $750 million to deliver the highest-priority investments in primary care in line with the recommendations of the task force. But, after a decade of failure, there is a lot of work to do, because those opposite left Australians with $1 trillion of debt and nothing to show for it: hospitals left under strain, medical staff exhausted, the bulk-billing system on the verge of collapse and out-of-pocket costs skyrocketing. Well, I suppose we should expect nothing better from a man who was described as 'Australia's worst health minister', Mr Dutton—Australia's worst health minister. This is the man who now leads Mr Morrison's Liberal leftovers—that's the opposition of today— (Time expired)