Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a privilege to be back here in Canberra for the start of a new sitting year. Over the break I have had the great pleasure of being out in the community, hearing from any of my constituents about what is important to them. I love chatting with people on the street or in the local shopping centres, and I learn so much from them. Last week it was wonderful to host both our Prime Minister and the Victorian Premier, the Hon. Jacinta Allan, at Boronia Heights Primary School, where they signed the historic Better and Fairer Schools Agreement along with federal and Victorian education ministers. This agreement is a monumental step forward for Victorian education and will put all Victorian public schools on a path to full and fair funding, delivering an additional $2.5 billion of Commonwealth funding over the next 10 years. By investing in Victorian public schools, we are helping them to succeed, meaning teachers and principals like Mat Anderton, and his team at Boronia Heights Primary, can continue their fantastic work in giving kids the best start in life. This is a shining example of how Labor governments work together to build Australia's future.

On Saturday I was also thrilled to attend the Lunar New Year Festival with the Prime Minister in Box Hill. The celebration provided a wonderful opportunity to bring in the year of the snake with great food and fun. I got the chance to say hello to some Aston locals there and hear about how they are celebrating the new year. I give special thanks to the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse and their fantastic president, Bihong Wang, who led the celebrations so excellently.

Finally, continuing in the spirit of those celebrations, last weekend was the celebration of the 41st birthday of a great Labor initiative: Medicare. Medicare has provided assistance to millions of Australians over its 41-year history. I am so proud to be part of a government that is continuing to deliver for Australians through our investments in Medicare, like the 87 urgent care clinics across this country—one of which is located in our very own Bayswater. I've been talking to locals a lot lately about our urgent care clinic in Bayswater, and my constituents absolutely love this initiative by our federal government. They can see how we're helping to ease the pressure on public hospital emergency rooms. People absolutely love this, and when I tell them about it they respond so well to it. They can see how we are really assisting people.