Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the continual reform agenda of the Albanese Labor government, which is making our country fairer and stronger in the energy space and in the healthcare portfolio. Unlike the former government, with its decade of denial and delay that resulted in energy policy chaos, the Albanese Labor government has an ambitious yet achievable plan to deliver cleaner, cheaper energy for all Australians. The Albanese Labor government knows that strong action is needed to tackle the climate crisis. That's why one of our first actions in government was to legislate a target of 43 per cent emission reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050, and we have a plan to get there.

We expect to generate 82 per cent of Australia's electricity from renewables, the cheapest form of energy, by the end of this decade. A transition to renewable energy now will reduce emissions as well as protecting Australians from future global price shocks in coal and gas markets. This is why we are working with state and territory governments, through the National Energy Transformation Partnership, to deliver progress on the transition to renewable energy. We are investing $20 billion in Rewiring the Nation and $10 billion in the Capacity Investment Scheme. Investments such as these are delivering energy policy certainty and unlocking investment in renewable energy. In fact, this renewable policy certainty is already having an impact, with large-scale wind and solar farm investment commitments up nearly 50 per cent in 2022. Our strong investment in renewables is in addition to our safeguard mechanism reforms, which we passed through parliament earlier this year. These reforms will reduce emissions from our country's biggest emitters by 250 million tonnes. That's equivalent to taking two-thirds of Australian cars off the road. I note that my home state of Tasmania already has 100 per cent renewable power generation, and Marinus will unlock renewable energy generation and storage for the mainland through Tasmania's Battery of the Nation project. Importantly, it will unlock the next wave of renewable energy development in Tasmania, attracting investment and jobs to our state.

Now I want to turn to health policy and what the Albanese Labor government is doing to improve health outcomes for all Australians. Labor created Medicare, the universal access to health care that all Australians can rely on, and in government we always strengthen it, unlike those opposite, who want to run down Medicare. They've done nothing to improve the national health of all Australians. We have not wasted one day since we've come to government. We've not wasted one day in opening Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia, including in my home state of Tasmania, where four Medicare urgent care clinics will operate. In my home city of Launceston, we have already opened a Medicare urgent care clinic at the Launceston Medical Centre, and the clinic has been seeing patients since 31 July this year. This clinic will open for extended hours seven days a week and will offer walk-in care that is fully bulk billed, so the only card you're going to need is a Medicare card. Almost 40 per cent of presentations at the Launceston General Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care. This clinic will make a big difference to patients in Launceston and the surrounding region, making sure that they have access not only to good care but to care in a very timely manner.

I know that many families in Launceston—and I have experienced this myself with my children and my husband—have waited countless hours in A&E to see a doctor. This service for non-life-threatening issues will actually deliver that care and that service for northern Tasmanians. I'm very proud of that. I'm very proud that, as Labor government, we have delivered this care and that we have also taken pressure off the Launceston General Hospital and its staff, who are doing their best. But what we want to see is people being seen by doctors and nurses as quickly as possible, keeping those non-urgent issues out of accident and emergency.

There is one clear difference between our government and those who were in government for 10 long years: we will keep delivering for the Tasmanian community, whether it's in health, education or jobs. (Time expired)