PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Ms COMER (Petrie) (11:44): I rise in support of what's been put forward by the fantastic member for Solomon. It recognises something that's making a genuine difference in communities right across Australia, including in my electorate of Petrie. When I put my hand up to stand as a Labor candidate for Petrie, I did so while knowing that one of my key priorities will always be health care.
I made a commitment to local families that I would fight for better health care close to home. People told me they were struggling to get in to see a GP, they were spending hours in the waiting room in the emergency department for conditions that weren't life threatening and they wanted more healthcare services in our growing community. Last December, we delivered on that promise when I opened the Medicare urgent care clinic in Deception Bay.
We can talk all we want in this parliament about how great these urgent care clinics are, and I will, but first I want to say that after knocking on thousands of doors I know they're making a real difference in our community, even if that isn't always visible from within this parliament. I'm incredibly proud that this clinic is now providing free, bulk-billed, urgent health care to local families seven days a week, with no appointment required.
It means that, if your child needs stitches after falling from their bike, if you've fractured your wrist or if you've developed an infection that simply can't wait, you can get the care you need close to home without worrying about an unexpected bill. That's exactly what strengthening Medicare looks like. The Albanese Labor government has remained focused on our promise to Australians that when you go to the doctor all you need is your Medicare card.
Through the delivery of the Medicare urgent care clinics right across the country, we're making that promise a reality. There are now 137 Medicare urgent care clinics operating across Australia. More than 3.2 million Australians have already accessed free, urgent care through them.
These clinics are open when families need them most, including in the evenings and on weekends, and almost half of all patients say they would otherwise have ended up in a hospital ED or called an ambulance. In Queensland, the impact has been enormous. We now have 26 Medicare urgent care clinics across the state, and they've already seen more than 660,000 patient presentations.
I'm particularly pleased by the response we've seen at the new Deception Bay urgent care clinic. Since opening, the clinic has already cared for more than 6,100 patients. That's more than 6,100 occasions where someone in our community has been able to receive urgent care without having to sit for hours in a hospital waiting room or worrying about whether they could afford the treatment.
The Deception Bay urgent care clinic has been a vital addition to our community, which is an area that's too often been overlooked when it comes to health care, and due to popular demand I've been able to secure extended opening hours from 8 am till 10 pm. The Deception Bay clinic complements the fantastic Medicare urgent care clinic found in Murrumba Downs, which has already been providing this important service to local families, with over 30,000 presentations to the clinic already.
Together, these clinics mean more people across Petrie can access quality health care close to home. Whether you live in D Bay, Rothwell, Kippa-Ring, North Lakes, Mango Hill, Griffin, Bracken Ridge or the surrounding suburbs, you have better access to health care than ever before. As our community continues to grow, that matters.
Beyond the numbers and the statistics are people. They're the parents who don't have to choose between waiting days to see a GP and spending their evening in the emergency department. They're the grandparents who can receive treatment quickly and get back home to recover.
They're the shiftworkers who can walk into a clinic after work because it's open when they need it. And they're for the young families who have the reassurance of knowing that quality health care is available close to home whenever the unexpected happens. Labor created Medicare and Labor will always fight to strengthen Medicare.
This government's record $8.5 billion investment into Medicare is delivering more bulk-billing, more doctors and nurses, cheaper medicines and permanent urgent care clinics for communities like ours. For Petrie, this isn't just another government announcement; it's a promise made and it's a promise kept. I promised local families that I would fight for more healthcare services in our community, and the Medicare urgent care clinic in Deception Bay is delivering on that promise every single day.
I'm proud to support this motion. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Georganas ): The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.