Portfolio — 24 March 2026

The Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House used parliamentary time on 24 March 2026 to mount a defence of the government's Medicare expansion program, drawing a sharp contrast with both the Opposition and One Nation on health policy. The centrepiece of that defence was the urgent care clinic rollout: the Minister reported 134 clinics now operating nationwide, having collectively treated more than 2.7 million Australians at 100 per cent bulk-billing [TA-260324-house-a9c2a02c99ed:s108].

The Cairns North clinic, opened by the Member for Leichhardt the previous week, was cited as the most recent addition to that network. Against the Opposition, the Minister pointed to the Leader of the Opposition's prior characterisation of the program as wasteful. Against One Nation, he noted that the party's health policy contains no reference to Medicare, bulk-billing, urgent care clinics, or cheaper medicines [TA-260324-house-a9c2a02c99ed:s108].

The effect was to frame the government's position as the sole credible custodian of Medicare in the current parliament, with cheaper medicines completing the trifecta of bulk-billing, urgent care access, and prescription cost relief as Labor's stated health offer heading into the election period. No comms-stream material was present in this window; the parliamentary record is the sole source for this Note.