STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr NEUMANN (Blair) (16:44): Recently, I dropped into the Ipswich Medicare Urgent Care Clinic to thank the staff and wish them happy birthday. It's their third birthday. The clinic opened its doors in August 2023.

They're located at Riverlink. They have extended hours seven days a week and they've taken pressure off the Ipswich Hospital emergency department. We've made these urgent care clinics a permanent feature of Medicare.

There are 137 of them across the country, and we've delivered all of them. They mean you can walk in with your Medicare card and get the care you need, close to home, without paying a cent. We've also assisted people with their hip pocket as well as their health by providing assistance with prescriptions.

There's $20 million of savings people in Blair have received as a result of 3.4 million prescriptions and the cheaper-medicine reforms that we've undertaken, including 60-day prescriptions. We've cut the maximum price of PBS medicines to $25 and frozen the price to $7.70 for concession card holders for the rest of the decade. We've made it easier to see a GP for free and we've doubled the number of bulk-billing practices in Blair to 33 fully bulk-billed clinics.

These GP clinics have really provided excellent health care, and I've met with so many of them recently. We've increased the bulk-billing rates from 82 per cent to 89.1 per cent in my electorate as well. So we're helping people with their healthcare but also with their hip pocket.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Fernando ): In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.