Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Mayo for raising this important matter and for bringing this MPI to the House. Women's health is often neglected due to gender inequality and gender bias in our health system. Women must jump through hoops for proper diagnoses for menopause, travel hundreds of kilometres to access abortion, and, in some cases, just to give birth as well. Access to abortion remains a postcode lottery in Australia, with different rules, costs and availability depending on where you live. There are also barriers to accessing affordable contraception, sexual health care and maternity services, which are all harder for women in rural and regional communities.

Last year abortion was finally decriminalised everywhere in the country, but recent threats to reproductive rights in South Australia and in Queensland remind us how fragile abortion rights can be. Yesterday it was reported that the Leader of the Opposition told his party room that abortion was not a federal issue and that talking about it cost the Liberal Party votes. The Greens know what an appalling record the Liberals have on women's issues, including health, and it's no surprise that they would try to hide their real agenda of sending women back to the 1950s. The truth is that abortion is a federal issue, because ensuring that you can get a safe, local and free abortion is a federal funding issue. In my home state of Victoria, more than two-thirds of local government areas have no surgical abortion providers, and almost 40 per cent of the state lacks a pharmacy that dispenses medical abortion pills.

The Greens senator Larissa Waters, a tireless fighter for women's health, initiated a Senate inquiry into abortion and reproductive rights back in 2022, which recommended that the federal government ensure either that hospitals provide free abortions or that there be alternative local, affordable pathways to access this time-bound health care. That was one of 39 consensus recommendations, yet 18 months on the government hasn't even responded to that report. What kind of message does it send about women's health that, even with report after report showing reproductive health care remains inaccessible to many, the government is willing to let those recommendations gather dust? After the LNP win in Queensland and seeing the growing threats, I urge the government to look urgently and seriously at using its power to require public hospitals, who get federal money, to provide free abortions. This is something that the government has previously considered, and it's in the recommendations.

Women's health needs to be taken seriously, as well, at every stage of their lives. Last year the Greens initiated another Senate inquiry into women's health, this time around perimenopause and menopause, the poor access to diagnosis and treatments, and the impacts on women's financial security from the impact of menopause at work. A year of hearings delivered another consensus report, with strong recommendations around workplace policy, improvements to education and access to treatments. The government needs to adopt all those recommendations pronto. There were some horror stories heard during the Senate menopause inquiry about the cost of medication, shortages and disbelieving or underinformed GPs. One woman was controlling her menopause related anxiety and depression with MHT, menopausal hormone therapy, until she could no longer afford hundreds of dollars a month. She was forced to ask for Valium because it's PBS listed and $15 for a box of 50. There was one woman who asked her doctor if symptoms could be from menopause, and she said that all that he was taught in medical school was that menopausal women are either mad or sad. These are the stories that women are telling now. It's time for change.

As one of our first election policy announcements, the Greens have said that we will make MHT free, with PBS and other subsidies worth $50 million, and have a campaign to increase awareness among healthcare professionals and the general public. No-one should be priced out of the health care that they need. We must ensure that effective treatments are accessible to all. As we head towards another election, the Greens will announce a suite of election policies focused on ensuring that health care is available to everyone who needs it in this country, tripling the bulk-billing incentive and ensuring people can go and see a GP, a nurse and psychologist for free at free local healthcare clinics.

The average out-of-pocket cost to see a GP is now over $40, and that's on top of skyrocketing rents, grocery prices, petrol prices and other bills. It's no wonder that more than a million Australians are delaying or forgoing GP appointments each year due to cost. In this wealthy country of ours, everyone and every woman should have access to the health care that they need.

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