Josh Dolega (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Monday 16 February I had the great pleasure of joining the member for Braddon, Anne Urquhart, to open the Burnie Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. The Burnie Medicare Urgent Care Clinic now operates from 12 pm to 10 pm daily at the Burnie health hub at 16 Mooreville Road. The clinic provides a much-needed boost to local health services, and it offers convenient, bulk-billed, walk-in urgent care, making it easier for residents to access medical attention close to home when they need it most. Whether it's cuts, burns, sprains, infections or other non-urgent health matters, the UCC provides care without the need for an appointment. With extended hours, including weekends, it ensures support is available outside of typical workday times, a major benefit for busy individuals and families. The clinic's opening also helps ease pressure on Burnie's emergency department, at the North West Regional Hospital, where around 40 per cent of presentations in 2024-25 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.

I recently went out doorknocking in Park Grove to share the news with the locals about the UCC's opening, and they were absolutely thrilled to hear about the centre opening. It was so close to home for many of them that, in fact, they had been watching the construction with eagerness, aware that soon they would have free medical care almost on their doorstep. Regardless of people's politics, there was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that they no longer had to sit in line at the hospital emergency department, and all they need is their Medicare card. Since opening, the Burnie urgent care clinic has already seen hundreds of patients, highlighting the strong community uptake of accessible bulk-billed health care.

This is just one of many urgent care clinics that we have opened in Tasmania. There's one in Devonport. In Hobart we've got two. We've got one in Launceston, in Sorell, in Kingston and in Bridgewater. This is the Labor government delivering for Australians. (Time expired)