Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2023-2024 and Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2023-2024, both of which clearly map out this government's and, indeed, this nation's priorities for the coming financial years.

After nearly a decade of waste and neglect, the Albanese Labor government is working hard to deliver that better future that Australians voted for on 21 May last year. This 2023-24 budget is responsible and practical and aimed very squarely at providing targeted relief to those most vulnerable Australians, whilst also easing pressure on families. In my electorate of Newcastle, there are many measures within the budget that will help Novocastrians who are under pressure while also building for that longer term future. Let me just step through some of those benefits that this budget will be bringing to the people of Newcastle.

Firstly, you would be very hard pressed to find a family anywhere in Newcastle that hasn't used the GP Access After Hours service. For more than 20 years, the hardworking GPs of the Newcastle region have worked after hours to ensure that Novocastrians have access to high-quality, bulk-billed primary health care. This was until Christmas Eve in 2021, when cuts to health care by the former Liberal government forced the after-hours service at the Calvary Mater hospital to close its doors permanently. Operating hours of the clinics at the John Hunter Hospital, the Maitland Hospital, the Belmont Hospital and the Toronto Polyclinic were also significantly reduced.

This was a devastating blow to our community. It was met with outrage, which quickly turned into action as more than 11,000 people in my electorate mobilised to sign a petition and to have those after-hours services restored. I made a commitment to the people of Newcastle then that, if we were to win government, a Labor Albanese government would restore the GP Access After Hours service at the Calvary Mater and, indeed, reinstate the full operating hours at the four remaining clinics.

Thanks to a record $28.7 million over six years from the Albanese Labor government, and the hard work of the local health practitioners, that promise is now coming to fruition. Indeed, $5.5 million from the government has ensured the after-hours clinic at the Calvary Mater hospital opened its doors on Monday this week. This news has been warmly welcomed by my community, with a number of people emailing me, phoning my office, and sending me notes and messages expressing their gratitude that this vital primary healthcare service has been reopened. And when fully operational across the five clinics, the after-hours service will deliver 55,000 appointments per year. The call centre is taking between 70,000 and 80,000 calls every year, and this means fewer presentations to emergency departments and less pressure on our hospital system. It's a great outcome for patients, it's a great outcome for GPs, who get to share the burden of that after-hours work, and it's a great outcome for our community as a whole.

Let me go now to the matter of bulk-billing. The Albanese Labor government is ensuring that the quality of health care depends on your Medicare card, not your credit card. I've just talked about the GP Access After Hours service. For many people they are now the only bulk-billing service in Newcastle. We are delivering in this budget the largest investment in the history of Medicare. We are tripling the bulk-billing incentives, which will see immediate benefits for more than 11 million Australians. In my electorate this measure benefits 70,982 Novocastrians, particularly pensioners, concession card holders and children under 16. Furthermore, the government is making hundreds of common medicines cheaper by allowing Australians to buy two months worth of medicines at the price of a single prescription. From 1 September, general patients will be able to save up to $180 a year, if their medicine is able to be prescribed for 60 days, and concession card holders will save up to $43.80 a year per medicine. Once fully implemented, the 60-day prescribing policy will provide doctors with the option to prescribe a two-month supply of more than 320 medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to Australians who have stable but ongoing health conditions. The current dispensing limit is for one month's supply only. Hundreds of medicines for conditions like heart disease, cholesterol, arthritis, Crohn's disease and hypertension will be so much cheaper. The change will benefit more than 40,000 Novocastrians, and it will bring Australia into line with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, where patients already have access to multiple-month medications on a single prescription.

Labor's investment in primary health care has received resounding support from the local primary health network and GPs in my region. Richard Nankervis, Chief Executive Officer of the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network, said:

The Labor Government's substantial investment into primary care is a win for people residing in the Hunter, New England and Central Coast regions.

He said:

I thank the Government for recognising the significant challenges being faced in primary care and providing the necessary funding to ensure that we can begin addressing these concerns.

When it comes to aged-care workers, this budget delivers the single largest increase to aged-care pay in history. It is a record $11.3 billion going into the pay packets of aged-care workers. This is a historic 15 per cent pay increase to the minimum wage for aged-care workers, and it's going to support that incredible workforce in Newcastle, who worked tirelessly keeping older Novocastrians safe during COVID but are also now ensuring that people in aged care are provided with the dignity they so richly deserve in the latter part of their life. This is something that will help enormously with reducing the gender pay gap, because we know it is predominantly women who occupy those low-paid aged-care jobs.

Let's look at the single-parent payment. The Albanese government is committed to helping single parents balance their work and family responsibilities. The federal budget will expand access to financial support by raising the age cut off for parenting payment single of the youngest child from eight years to 14 years. Many single parents, overwhelmingly women, face difficulty balancing caring responsibilities and work, and these difficulties do not end when the child turns eight. We also know that many single mothers have experienced violence from a previous partner and are at greater risk of financial hardship. They need and deserve our support.

From 20 September this year, subject to the passage of legislation, single parents will no longer have to transfer to JobSeeker, the lower pay rate, when their youngest child turns eight. These parents will continue to receive the higher level of support with the current base rate of $922.10 per fortnight until their youngest child turns 14. For my community, that means 1,290 single parents in Newcastle will no longer have to transfer to the JobSeeker payment when their child turns eight, and will now continue to receive that high level of payment until their youngest child turns 14. That puts an extra $176.90 in your pocket every fortnight.

The Albanese Labor government also believes very much in a strong social safety net—a strong safety net in which people can transition into work. We want to make sure that people can access income support when they need it, and that's why we've increased the base rate for JobSeeker by $40 a fortnight along with allowing people who are aged 55 and over a higher rate of JobSeeker. From September there will be 7,665 Novocastrians who will receive a $40 increase in their fortnightly payment, and 480 jobseekers aged 55 to 59 who will have their payments increased by $92.10 per fortnight. Also in this budget, we're delivering the largest increase in rent assistance for more than 30 years. The budget includes $2.7 billion to increase the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent. There will be 6,300 renters in Newcastle who will benefit from that 15 per cent boost to their income support.

The Albanese Labor government recognises the importance of supporting young people in our community, and we are proud to announce that we will be providing $600,000 to headspace in Newcastle. This funding will enable our Newcastle headspace to continue their youth suicide, self-harm and waitlist management strategy, which has already proven to be an invaluable resource for young people. Through this initiative, we aim to further improve the ability of headspace to provide the care and support that our young people need, allowing them to receive the help they deserve.

Access to quality, affordable child care and early education is great for kids, great for parents and great for our economy, and that's why the Albanese Labor government has a cheaper-childcare policy. We will be delivering relief to 7,300 families in Newcastle who will end up being better off under our cheaper-childcare policy. For a family with a combined income of $80,000 or less, the childcare subsidy rates will lift to 90 per cent. The number of hours of subsidised care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will also rise to a minimum of 36 hours per fortnight from July, benefiting around 6,600 families and encouraging more to use care.

The Albanese Labor government is also getting the NDIS back on track, improving outcomes and ensuring every dollar goes to benefit participants. The budget delivers $910 million over four years, with $73.4 million earmarked to better support participants to manage their plan within the budget so that they can access the support in a flexible way to better achieve their goals. This will help around 5,133 NDIS participants in Newcastle.

We are also simplifying Australia's superannuation system by requiring employers to pay super on pay day, which will mean 17,900 Novocastrians will be, on average, $2,000 better off at retirement. This is great news.

When we go to the NBN, we've got more than 39,000 premises in Newcastle who will now have access to higher internet speeds under the Albanese Labor government's $2.4 billion investment in the National Broadband Network. Households and businesses in Wallsend, Stockton, Shortland, North Lambton, New Lambton, Merewether, Maryland, Lambton, Kotara, Islington, Hamilton, Glendale, Elermore Vale, Cooks Hill, Cardiff, Broadmeadow, Adamstown Heights and Adamstown will be able to upgrade to a full fibre broadband connection as part of our better plan for the NBN.

There's $328.1 million to support more than 340,000 veterans and dependants, including 4,792 veterans in Newcastle. And of course, there's electricity bill relief. Newcastle households will be eligible for a rebate of up to $500 and small business for rebates up to $650. We know that people need energy price relief, and this will help enormously. Australians are doing it tough at the moment. The number of calls and emails to my office raising concerns about access to bulk-billing, Medicare and the cost of living proves this.

I want to reassure the people of Newcastle that the Albanese-Labor government has listened and we are now delivering.

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