QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr HAINES (Indi) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Murray Primary Health Network, which services most of Indi, recently had its after-hours funding cut, apparently because demand is now serviced by Medicare urgent care clinics. The government says four in five Australians live within 20 minutes of a Medicare urgent care clinic, but in Indi, if you live outside Wodonga, it's zero.

Minister, can you guarantee that rural communities without a Medicare urgent care clinic will not lose access to after-hours care?