Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, I was so pleased to officially open Western Australia's eighth Medicare urgent care clinic in downtown Gosnells. It is Western Australia's largest urgent care clinic. Now our community will have access to free urgent medical care close to home, seven days a week, with extended hours. The Gosnells Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is equipped to treat a range of urgent but not life-threatening conditions and injuries—things like cuts, rashes, sprains and broken arms.

In 2023-24, more than 40 per cent of the presentations to the emergency department at the Armadale-Kelmscott hospital were for semi-urgent and non-urgent conditions—conditions that are much better suited to an urgent care clinic. That often means people are waiting to be seen in the emergency department for too long. I'm conscious that a lot of people go to hospital with these sorts of conditions because they are not able to afford to book in to see a GP privately or because they need to wait days to be able to secure such an appointment. That is what's so exciting about this urgent care clinic; you can walk straight in and get the help you need quickly, and it's completely bulk-billed.

The new Gosnells Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will take a heap of pressure off the Armadale-Kelmscott hospital, and, with extended hours, it won't matter if it's after hours or on the weekend. Locals can get the care they need close to home. Here in Australia, it's your Medicare card, not your credit card, that should determine the health care that you receive. I was joined at the opening event by Trish Cook, Labor's candidate for the federal seat of Bullwinkel, as well Colleen Egan, Labor's candidate for the state seat of Thornlie in the state election in Western Australia, because this urgent care clinic won't just be a big help for the community of Burt; it'll also service the whole south-east corridor.

I've been proud to work with my local colleagues in the WA state government to deliver what's needed for our community. Whether that's delivering school funding alongside Tony Buti in Armadale, the Tonkin Highway extension with Hugh Jones in Darling Range, upgrades to community facilities in Southern River in the state electorate of Jandakot alongside Terry Healy and Yaz Mubarakai or cleaning up our waterways with Chris Tallentire in Thornlie, we've been able to achieve so much because we work together. I want to give a massive shout-out to Chris Tallentire, who'll be be retiring at this state election. He's worked tirelessly for the Thornlie and Gosnells communities for almost 17 years. Chris, you have done so much to be proud of, and I can't wait to see what you do next. I also know that Labor's candidate for Thornlie, Colleen Egan, will continue your legacy. It's the partnership between the WA Labor government and the Albanese government that's seen so many positive outcomes for our community. As we look to the future, there's still much that we can achieve together.