Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Life in a growth corridor is often complex. There are challenges and there are great opportunities. One of the challenges of life in a growth corridor is keeping up with infrastructure. That's why I was so pleased to stand with Minister Catherine King to announce a $125 million funding for the M1 and Werribee main road interchange. This will see the redevelopment of an 80-year-old interchange turned into a double-lane bridge, which will relieve people trying to get off the M1 to return to their homes in Wyndham Vale and Manor Lakes, past the Werribee exit. It's an extraordinary thing to have the privilege to make those announcements. I want to thank all the members of the community who contacted me over the past 12 months to alert me to the danger that's been happening as people have been banking up in the emergency lane because Geelong traffic has the right of way there, so this modernisation will work for the first half of the Wyndham link to make sure the Ison Road traffic can move quickly through. I can't stress how much we need to get that work started to ensure the safety of locals.

We also announced a $47.15 million commitment to untangle a very complex intersection on Ballan Road, Greens Road and McGrath Road, which is currently a large roundabout. It will get traffic lights and a modernisation, as well as some care and concern about the people riding and pedestrians using the area as well—both great announcements. I am really proud. Thank you to all those who alerted me to the congestion issues. I'm pleased to be part of a government that has heard that and is going to be part of delivering that solution.

The other thing I want to talk about tonight is to put context around what the Labor Albanese government has been doing in health. Let's just go through what that context is. We know those opposite need to find $600 billion, supposedly, for their nuclear fantasy, and we know that they're talking about cutting $350 billion out of the budget if they win government. I know they once famously said 'no cuts to health' before they cut $50 billion from hospitals, from national partnerships. I know they tried to introduce a GP tax, and we beat that back from opposition. So, in response, they froze the Medicare levy for four years. The current Leader of the Opposition is responsible for that, followed up by the former prime minister and then health minister, Scott Morrison, extending that freeze for two years. They actively undermined our world-renowned universal healthcare system. They tried to Americanise our system and they would do it again. Don't take my word for it. We've seen it; they've got form.

But locally, those opposite did something I will find always hard to forgive. They cut Wyndham out of the priority area for the training of international doctors to Australian registration. This led to a 30 per cent reduction in GPs in my community. This side of government has reinstated that priority area, and we've seen the number of GPs rise in response in this first term. We've introduced cheaper medicines. We've done half a billion dollars for women's health. Also, not only have we reinstated that priority area, in government, those opposite delivered MRI Medicare rebated licences to Geelong, which already had them, while ignoring Wyndham and the whole of the west of Melbourne, which didn't have any until you got to Sunshine. This government has fixed that. In 2025 we will have a local MRI rebated licence, followed by a second one in 2026.

This government is delivering. We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive. We've opened 87 urgent care clinics across the country; there is one in Werribee. Those opposite, if given the opportunity, will decimate health care, decimate Medicare and decimate hospital funding, and do the small things that cut into our capacity to offer universal health care. It is something we on this side are very proud of and something Australians rely on.