Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Hawke claims that the Labor government is strengthening Medicare with urgent care clinics across Australia; however, there are a few things he failed to mention. The urgent care clinics promised for Rockhampton and Bundaberg remain undelivered, as the Labor government fails to meet the delivery deadline. Labor promised all 50 urgent care clinics announced during the election would be up and running by 1 July 2023, but only a handful have been established by the Labor Albanese government. It has come to my attention that these clinics have been established as a result of the Labor government simply taking over existing clinics, which fails to deliver one more doctor and one more consult for patients. Experts on the ground are even advising that the clinics will not take the pressure off of Australia's health system as promised. The government's failure to establish and deliver the original 50 clinics within their own time frame is a blatant broken promise.

Since this Labor government came to power it has become more difficult to get access to a GP. Our healthcare system is under serious pressure and now they have broken their promise on delivering urgent care clinics in Rockhampton and Bundaberg to relieve the local hospitals. A local doctor in my electorate has told me that he has 5,000 patients on his books. Labor promised local residents that they would establish this additional health service, yet their failure to meet the deadline proves that they cannot be trusted to deliver real and urgent outcomes.

The Albanese government continues to prove that Labor only prioritises health during election campaigns and it fails when it comes to delivering the services that the people of the Flynn electorate need. For instance, in the election campaign Labor ran the platform policy of: 'Child care. Medicare. Aged care. Labor cares.' Here are the facts. Child care is in crisis, Medicare is in crisis, aged care is in crisis and the Labor government is in crisis.

Let's look at their record since they took office in May last year. Kindergartens in Biloela and Mount Morgan have been forced to close. GPs across the Flynn electorate are leaving the region and closing their clinics. An aged-care facility in Mount Morgan has announced that it will close. Labor also promised that every urgent care clinic would be open during the extended times of 8 am to 10 pm as a key part of their operation, but it was revealed in budget estimates that this won't even be the case.

The Labor government was elected on a platform of strengthening Medicare and all we've seen so far is our Medicare system weaken. We've seen 70 telehealth services cut from Medicare. We've seen mental health service rebates slashed in half. Right around the country we're seeing the ramping at our hospitals getting worse and worse. Labor promised that they would make it easier and cheaper to see a doctor, but the Labor government has ripped doctors out of rural and regional Australia by changing the distribution priority areas. Without an urgent and comprehensive workforce strategy to address the workforce crisis it will not be easier to see a GP, no matter how many headline promises they make.

For all their rhetoric on prioritising health and aged care leading to the election, this Labor government continues to ignore the biggest issue facing both systems, which is workforce shortages. By refusing to develop a strategy to address this urgent issue our healthcare and aged-care systems remain under serious pressure. Labor's promises have delivered only headlines with no practical outcomes. Australians must look to this government's actions and not its words. It is harming our aged-care system by fast-tracking undeliverable requirements, it has removed critical support from Australians struggling with their mental health and it has redirected desperately needed doctors away from rural and regional towns in Australia.

Communities in my electorate of Flynn in the Rockhampton and Bundaberg regions are desperately awaiting an urgent care clinic that was supposed to be up and delivered months ago. However, it is becoming more and more evident that this Labor government has sold the Australian public a lie, and it's the people of my electorate who are suffering the outcome.

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