Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am so proud to serve in the first-ever majority-women government in Australia's history. Never before have the concerns of Australian women been as heard, understood and taken seriously as throughout our term in government. We've championed issues such as women's safety, women's wages, access to paid parental leave, superannuation on paid parental leave, women's housing and of course, women's health. Earlier this week, the Albanese Labor government announced its latest investment in women's health with a massive half-billion-dollar package. This includes the listing of new oral contraceptive pills on the PBS for the first time in over 30 years, providing better access to long-term contraceptives with larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing for IUDs and birth control implants; giving more support for women experiencing menopause, with more endometriosis and pelvic-pain clinics and more specialist menopause support in these clinics; and providing better access to contraceptives and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs without the need to see a GP. This package has been overwhelmingly praised by medical peak bodies, including the AMA and the RACGP, as an absolute game changer for women.

Contrast this to what Australian doctors think of Peter Dutton. They voted him Australia's worst health Minister in the history of Medicare after he cut more than $50 billion from our public hospitals. The choice for all Australians, especially women, is crystal clear at the next election. With Mr Dutton vowing to make $350 billion in secret cuts if elected, you can bet the house that he will wind back most, if not all, of the gains that we have made for women throughout our term. The stakes are high. We cannot risk our mothers, our daughters, our sisters or our granddaughters going back to being ignored, marginalised and undervalued by the boys club— (Time expired)