Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My bulk-billing campaign across Mandurah and the south-west of Western Australia has received hundreds of responses from local residents. They're telling me which GP they attend, how often they need care and whether or not they are being bulk-billed. The responses are overwhelmingly clear: when a clinic bulk-bills, patients see their doctor earlier and more often. They don't wait until their condition worsens. They don't put off an appointment because payday is still a week away. Whether you can afford a doctor should not determine whether you see a doctor.

Labor has delivered the biggest investment in bulk-billing since Medicare began: tripling the bulk-billing incentive and increasing the Medicare rebate, which means stronger support for local GPs to provide fully bulk-billed care. I'm really proud of the uplift in bulk-billing that we've seen in Western Australia, particularly in the Peel and south-west regions. I want more local GPs to take up these incentives because there is clear local demand.

Labor is making a significant investment in health infrastructure in the Peel region. Just last week, I visited the new Peel community mental health and Kara Maar eating disorder clinic in Greenfields, which is expanding care closer to home. The Cook and Albanese Labor governments are working together to build a brand-new Peel Health Campus in Mandurah thanks to the advocacy of local member Rhys Williams, who has been a long-time advocate for getting his community hospital that they need. This is real health support for the people of Mandurah and Peel—putting patients first because we want every Western Australia to have access to quality, affordable health care where they need it, when they need it.