Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to stand as a member of a Labor government that supports a seat like mine in the Northern Territory that's as diverse as Lingiari, which is regional and remote Australia. Labor works hard to help all of my constituents deal with the cost-of-living pressures, and there is still more to do. When you hear speaker after speaker on the other side—not once have we heard on our side that there isn't more to do. We know that there is more to do and that everyone is hurting, and we are doing everything possible to try and make life better for everybody—not just the select few but everyone.

In my electorate, we work very hard as part of the government to build strong and sustainable communities that provide relief to those most in need at times when they need it the most. Labor's tax cuts, which came into force from 1 July this year, benefited 43,000 Territorians in Lingiari, and Labor is working hard for all Australian taxpayers to keep more of what they earn. Our government's $300 energy bill relief is another practical way Labor is easing the cost-of-living pressures. Around 85,000 households across the Northern Territory have benefited from this measure, which is reducing national household bills by 17 per cent on average compared to the previous year. In Lingiari, the Sun Cable project is going to benefit the nation but particularly Aboriginal communities along the corridor where the Sun Cable project is working. The Indigenous land use agreement is about to be signed between Sun Cable—its partners through the Northern Land Council—and native titleholders. I was listening to the member for Grey when he was talking about the native title disputes in South Australia. If it might help the retiring member for Grey, maybe that side of government needs to work more with their Aboriginal communities to get consensus rather than the ongoing disputes that we often see. I think that side of politics loves the division between pastoralists and Aboriginal people.

In the Northern Territory, we've done a lot of work with the cattlemen's association, with the pastoral industry and with Aboriginal people in terms of building the economy and the Northern Territory. A lot can be said if you work on those relationships.

Not everyone agrees, and that's okay. You can agree to disagree. But it is imperative that all of us in this House try and work together with industry to try and get the best outcome, particularly if we're looking at what needs to happen to get greater benefits and outcomes for our constituents.

One of the things that I do want to pick up on, and everyone's picked up on this because it is really important, is the Medicare reforms that our Minister for Health and Aged Care has taken through. I just want to quickly touch on the urgent care clinic in Alice Springs, or Mparntwe, which has had over 25,000 people. For a small community like Alice Springs, the number of people who have used the Medicare urgent care clinic in Alice Springs has been mind-blowing. It is in the top 25 urgent care clinics that we have put in place. The community of Alice Springs are very grateful.

It was good to be there the other day and see people coming in. It's not just Aboriginal clients that are going into these urgent care clinics but mums and dads and everyone that lives in Alice Springs. Alice has a high multicultural population—it's about 30 per cent of the community—and you hear everyone saying how good the Medicare urgent care clinic in Alice Springs is. That has been a fantastic initiative, and getting the support of the health minister, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, the Department of Health and others to make the Medicare urgent care clinic in Alice Springs happen has been an important part of the Albanese Labor government's promise to make it easier to see a doctor in regional communities like Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

It is hard to try and get a doctor into all of these regional areas. The Medicare urgent care clinic in Alice Springs, as well as what we're doing throughout those regional areas, has to be applauded. It has been a big investment by this side of government.

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