Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Stewart. We know that when we came to government it had never been harder or more expensive to see a GP. We know that bulk-billing was in sharp decline after a six-year freeze to Medicare rebates and nine years of cuts and neglect. So, in addition to the $6.1 billion to strengthen Medicare and make it easier to see a doctor, we of course are also ensuring more broadly that the system is improved. We have seen the Albanese government's Medicare urgent care clinics opening around the country, making it easier for Australians to see a doctor. Just recently we had a second urgent care clinic open in Marion in my home state of South Australia, in Adelaide. Senator Birmingham and Senator Ruston, you should go down and have a look. It'll help patients get help faster and ease pressure on the nearby Flinders Medical Centre, where about 30 per cent of presentations are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care. As Stephen Duckett said, 'The legacy left by Liberal health ministers'—I'll have to come back to this quote.