Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator McAllister. Delivering cost-of-living relief and quality health care is a key priority for the Albanese Labor government. Today the government is delivering more investments to make our health system more affordable and more accessible for all Australians. Minister, can you outline how these investments will deliver real change for Australians and ensure that Australian families get the health that they deserve?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, I thank you for drawing attention to what is happening today. Today is a good day for Australia's families, and it's a great day for our health system because the Albanese Labor government is delivering a record $220 billion to our public health system. In your home state, Senator Polley, Tasmanians will receive $5.1 billion in total hospital funding over the next five years. Across the country, there is three times more additional funding for public hospitals than under the Morrison government's last five-year agreement.

Why are we making these investments? Because there is a lot to do. The previous Liberal government spent nearly a decade neglecting the health system that Australians depend on. Well, that was their choice. This government makes a very different choice. We are choosing to give nurses and doctors the resources that they need to do their jobs. We are choosing to ensure that Australians, wherever they live and wherever they come from, can better access the care that they need.

We are choosing to make that care available before Australians even reach the hospital door, with 137 Medicare urgent care clinics open across this country, providing bulk-billed care. From today, they are a permanent feature of Medicare. There are eight Medicare urgent care clinics in your home state of Tasmania, Senator—all permanent. We hear from families, workers and hospital staff about just how important these clinics are. They are taking pressure off our emergency departments.

We saw how those opposite ridiculed Medicare urgent care clinics and called it 'wasteful spending'. The three million Australians who have walked through the doors of these clinics have gotten free urgent care, and they disagree. (Time expired)

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

Senator Polley, first supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for answering the question and highlighting the importance of what we're delivering. Today the Albanese Labor government is expanding access to life-changing treatments for more Australians, from vaccines to medicines. Can the minister outline how the government is continuing to invest in more treatments for Australians?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is focused on delivering more affordable treatments for more Australians, and today we are doing exactly that. From today, the pneumococcal vaccine program will be expanded for older Australians over 65 through the National Immunisation Program. That means more Australians will have access to the best and most comprehensive protection against pneumococcal for free. This is on top of the new, cheaper medicines we are adding to the PBS: long-acting insulin that will support people with type 2 diabetes, a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis and treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, all now available for no more than $25.

If the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation had had their way, Australians would have been paying more than $50 for a PBS script in 2026. That is $2.7 billion in savings delivered since 2022 that the coalition of chaos opposed.

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

Senator Polley, second supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Since coming to government, the Albanese Labor government has worked to protect and strengthen Medicare for every Australian. Minister, can you outline why the government is making these investments, and what are the threats to these investments?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Link to this | Hansard source

You are absolutely right that we are making these investments because Labor governments will always protect and strengthen Medicare. Since coming to government, we have put money back into hospitals, made more medicines cheaper and gotten bulk-billing rates up again after a decade of freefall.

But we should be clear eyed about the risks. They are all over there, because the coalition's record is there for everyone to see: cuts to Medicare and cuts to public hospitals. They are all about cuts except once. When it comes to voting for tax cuts, then they're not interested. But they are interested in cuts to public health, and sitting right next to them on many occasions, although not right now, is One Nation, a party whose biggest contribution to health policy is a commitment to abolish the TGA, the very body that keeps medicines safe for Australians. The coalition of chaos—all of those opposite—have never valued public health and they never will. (Time expired)