Joanne Ryan
Lalor · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I understand how difficult it is for those opposite. Having voted in support of this legislation, they've seen their vote overturned by their Senate colleagues. I understand that they're disappointed.”
“It's a four-page document that does two clear things. It gives the eSafety Commissioner something she has asked for. She has asked for a law that will allow her to compel documents in her investigation as to why big tech companies are not complying with the laws set by this country, set by this House and the other place.”
“These silos create delays and delays can mean claims held up, care interrupted, families unsupported and risks unseen. The failure this bill confronts is not a lack of courage from those who served but a lack of connection in the systems built to support them.”
“The Albanese government agreed or agreed in principle to 104 recommendations, and, significantly, this bill implements 15 recommendations and supports a further 20.”
“Schedule 1 of this bill strengthens information sharing to improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes for Defence members and to limit the risk. The royal commission found that defence and veterans systems hold critical information but that information has too often been fragmented, delayed or unavailable when needed.”
“It is 1 July today, and that means pay rises for three million workers around this country and tax cuts for all Australian workers. This is good news for my community. And you know what else is good news in my community?”
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“In my community, a highly aspirational community, buying your first home has, for too long, felt like a dream—out of reach—for local young people. First home buyers were told to simply save harder whilst house prices continued to rise under a coalition government. The Albanese Labor government has been determined to change that, and we have. From 1 October last year, first home buyers became eligible to buy with just a five per cent deposit and, for single parents, a two per cent deposit. In communities like mine, where hardworking young families are looking for stability and for somewhere to call home, the five per cent deposit scheme has shaved years off the time it takes to enter the housing market and therefore years off their mortgages. The result of this policy speaks for itself.”
“At the most recent federal election, Labor again committed to investing in Lalor—a total of $70 million, which the state government will match, to deliver the second stage of the Wyndham ring road, a bridge over the Werribee River. It's been coined the fourth bridge over the Werribee River because the City of Wyndham has the Werribee River running straight through the middle of it, separating our communities. We need more crossings, and this will be another one, futureproofing our community, taking pressure off the CBD and supporting the people of Tarneit and Wyndham Vale to commute from one side to the other, because growth corridors like Lalor deserve infrastructure that serves its community, and that is exactly what this government is delivering. We're also assisting people with getting into a home.”
“I want to give a shout-out here to the new state member for Werribee, my colleague John Lister, who has already made sure that we've got temporary lights there so that people are supported in coming off that freeway, because it was getting so dangerous. We're transforming the Ballan Road intersection, replacing the roundabout with traffic lights and building additional lanes and priority bus lanes, again in conjunction with the state government. This is what congestion-busting infrastructure looks like. In my community, it is time saved in the car, it's a safer commute to school and it's getting people home to their families sooner and safely.”
“We've made another commitment, matched by the state, of $125 million for the Princes Freeway and Werribee Main Road Interchange Upgrade. That will start the minute the second part finishes. That means that people will be able to get off the freeway, cross over onto the extension and onto the bridge over the railway line and then go into Manor Lakes and Werribee. This really will make a difference. We delivered an additional $13.2 million through the Roads to Recovery fund to upgrade local roads, because safer local streets also mattered. This is double what the former government had given across the country. We're upgrading the Princes Freeway and the Werribee Main Road interchange. That'll improve the intersections and provide local families with a safer commute.”
“Our community was growing rapidly, without support from a federal government. Despite that, infrastructure continued to be lacking. It just went on and on. When the Albanese Labor government was elected in 2022, we got straight to delivering what our community needed. In partnership with the Victorian government, we committed $114 million to deliver the first stage of the Wyndham ring road. This transformative project is now nearing completion. The bridge is finished. Now, with Wyndham City Council and the state government completing the Ison Road extension from the bridge to the service station roundabout, we're nearly there. That congestion-busting infrastructure will be further supported, because we haven't stopped there.”
“We're investing $430 million over four years to deliver cost-of-living relief for young families and we're helping parents get back to work. In fast-growing communities like mine, these measures matter. It's not rhetoric in Lalor. It's not rhetoric in Hoppers Crossing. It's not rhetoric in Werribee. It's not rhetoric in Tarneit or Manor Lakes. It's targeted, practical support that helps productivity and helps young families, because helping young families and helping Australians with the cost of living isn't optional. It's our responsibility, and that's exactly what this Albanese Labor government is doing. I want to talk now about investment in roads. For a decade, while I was in opposition, I watched growth corridors like the one I represent be neglected by the former coalition government.”
“From July 2025, people in my community have already saved $9 million under that measure, and they're set to save even more now, with it going down to $25 a script. We've already cut 20 per cent off student debt, which is relief for around three million Australians, including more than 80,000 people in Victoria and over 18,000 people in my electorate of Lalor. This really goes to the nub of supporting people with the cost of living. Under the former coalition government, many families were locked out of childcare support by a prejudiced activity test. That's why we've introduced the three-day childcare guarantee, ensuring all families receive three days of subsidised child care, regardless of their financial circumstances. This, we know, is a productivity measure. We know it will get mums and dads back into the workforce.”
“This government is focused on one thing, and that is helping with the cost of living, because we know every little bit helps. We've delivered tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, we've created more jobs and we've lifted pay. These tax cuts are about easing pressure and helping households get ahead. As we know, as opposed to the plan from those opposite, every Australian taxpayer under Labor got a tax cut. We're also introducing a new $1,000 instant tax deduction from 2026-27, giving Australians even more support at tax time. We've made medicines cheaper by reducing the maximum price of PBS medicines to only $25, and for those pensioners with a card, $7.70 is all they're paying under Labor for their PBS scripts.”
“I declare that, unless otherwise ordered, the Parliamentary Frameworks Legislation Amendment (Reviews) Bill 2026 and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Amendment Bill 2026 stand referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration at the adjournment of the debate on the motion for the second reading of each bill.”
“As in the Leader of the House's reference to Simon Crean's relationship with Luch, everyone who served in this place considered him a friend. Everyone who served in this place mourns his loss.”
“The other important thing for me about the relationship with Luch was that he became an ambassador for Parliament House and an ambassador for Canberra. Coming in to the airport and having Luch there as the welcoming party and assigning the COMCAR drivers to us was a tradition that we became accustomed to. I have to say, I've already sadly missed Luch in that role for some time as things changed around COMCAR and it wasn't Luch who greeted us at the airport anymore. Every day in that chamber he will be remembered by those of us who shared that space with him. I'm happy that the new class of 2025 got to meet Luch and share that memory with us. I want to acknowledge and thank former prime minister Julia Gillard for her kind words in the statement that she put out on social media.”
“Coming to join this place in 2013 as someone who had never spent time in Parliament House and had never worked here as a staffer, the attendants in Parliament House quickly became people that I knew I could rely on for a warm smile, and Luch led that with that smile as you arrived, when he passed you in a corridor, when you walked into the chamber. As many have expressed, the kindness in the way that he worked with us was extraordinary. He embodied the spirit of the House of Representatives, the spirit of the people's house. That's who Luch became; a person who, when my eyes locked onto him in the chamber, reminded me about what my job is and that I am supported in that job by this great building and the people who work here. Luch became the embodiment of the constituents I represent—the everyman, the person who would give you a smile.”
“It's an absolute pleasure to follow the Leader of the House to pay my respects to our friend Luch. As we all know, Luch passed unexpectedly on New Year's Eve 2025, the New Year's Eve just gone. He'll be dearly missed by his wife, Mary; his son, Joshua; and his daughters, Jessica and Rebecca, alongside their partners, Anthony and Robert. He was a proud member of the Macedonian community, a proud constituent of Eden-Monaro and a proud worker in our Parliament House. His career spanned 40 years, starting as a young man at Old Parliament House. He also worked on the construction of the new Parliament House and stayed on to help keep it running. He was the longest-serving staff member of the Department of the House of Representatives. He was our friend. He was my friend.”
“They certainly are in the electorate that I represent, with the reduction of the maximum price of a PBS script down to $25 from over $40 under the former government, and, for pension and concession card holders, the price is just $7.70 per script—in law. That's $13.3 million on over 1.8 million scripts saved, and I'm sure the figures in the member for Fowler's electorate are similar because our electorates are so similar in terms of economic demographics. I welcome the opportunity every day to talk about the work that this government is doing in the health space, because, in my community, it is valued and it is appreciated. People understand the value of good health care.”
“So we can be assured that our primary health care is in better nick and that the people we represent here and the people that the member for Fowler represents are getting better service from their doctors, because they're accessing their doctors more often and their doctors are appreciating their walking through the door. We've also made medicines cheaper. Millions of Australians rely on the PBS every year. In fact, seven in 10 Australians fill at least one PBS script annually. Since 22 July, the Albanese Labor government has expanded the PBS with 399—we need that number to go up by one, Minister—new and amended listings while also delivering the largest PBS price cuts in decades. I'm sure that, in the member for Fowler's electorate, people are feeling the value of that.”
“And I want to use this opportunity to thank those GP clinics who have opened their doors and welcomed me for a visit. I encourage all members: reach out and contact the GP clinics in your electorates that are bulk-billing. Go and visit. I have been absolutely thrilled to meet the GPs operating in my area. Something I've shared with the minister before is the number of people in my community who have put down roots as doctors, and now I'm meeting their adult children who are just finishing med school. It's an amazing, uplifting experience to know that the people who live in my electorate are getting such good care. As the assistant minister referenced, they're all saying the same things—that people are spending less time waiting to go to the doctor, they're presenting earlier and they're appearing for follow-up consultations.”
“Our urgent care clinics are taking pressure off our hospital emergency departments. The clinic was opened in July 2023, and it has provided urgent care for over 32,000 people now. I note that in the member for Fowler's electorate there is an urgent care clinic, and I'm sure the locals there welcome that as well. Of course, we have to talk about the bulk-billing increases—the new arrangements. New data shows that Australians can now access over 3,400 Medicare bulk-billing practices across the country. Almost 1,300 of these practices previously bulk-billed. In Lalor, we now have 40 bulk-billing clinics. Eleven of these were previously charging patients an out-of-pocket fee before our record investment in bulk-billing, which came into effect on 1 November last year.”
“The cuts the Liberals made meant local clinics in my community were reporting they couldn't take on any new patients, there was a loss of 30 per cent of effective full-time doctors and wait times were out to five days. This put enormous pressure on our local medical professionals, and in some cases local doctors, nurses and staff were in tears. This government got to work, and the DPA was restored to the City of Wyndham. We have since seen the number of doctors increase, along with our capacity to be part of the training of doctors—of overseas doctors in particular—and out-of-hours or longer-hour surgeries have seen people flocking back to GPs. We've also home to one of the first of Labor's 126 Medicare urgent care clinics. Before the last election, 20,000 people had already been through that urgent care clinic.”
“I want to thank the member for Fowler for raising this important discussion today. I think it's a critical discussion. I also want to thank the minister who's sitting at the table, the Minister for Health and Ageing, for the work that he's done in this space since we took office, because I can say that, with the election of the Albanese Labor government, the postcodes of 3030, 3029 and 3024, much like the postcodes the member for Fowler represents, now have a government committed to strengthening Medicare. One of the first actions this government took in the health space was to reverse the cuts the Liberals and Nationals made to outer-suburb communities' priority access.”
“I declare that Federation Chamber orders of the day Nos 2 to 4, government business, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026 and two related appropriation bills, are returned to the House for further consideration.”
“This must not be conflated with our broader Muslim community. Just last month I stood with our Muslim community on the open mosque day. That community—peaceful, proud and contributing—must not bear the burden of the actions of a minority. Social cohesion depends on our many communities coming together with mutual respect. I am proud of the incredibly diverse community I represent, and I will always be their advocate in this parliament.”
“I rise to address reports of an event that mourned the death of Ayatollah Khamenei that was held in a centre in my electorate. I reiterate the sentiments of the Prime Minister: Australia stands with the brave people of Iran, who endured decades of oppression under his regime. His death should not be mourned. Like the Minister for Home Affairs, I fail to understand how that dictatorship, a perversion of the peace that Muslims in my community practise, could be mourned on Australian soil, particularly when so recently it was confirmed that the regime was behind terrorist acts on our shores, designed to sow division and discord. I send my thoughts to our local Iranian community, my neighbours for whom this death brings some closure to a period of oppression and loss. But I want to be clear.”
“I want to give a shoutout to my local government, who have installed EV chargers at community centres around my electorate. They're in there supporting and helping my community move with the future, save money and make life easier.”
“You cannot claim to care about household budgets while opposing policies that help Australians save thousands of dollars every year. The reality is that communities like mine in Lalor are already embracing a clean energy future. What my community is showing is simple. Clean energy is not just good for the environment. It is good for family budgets and for Australia's economic future. The people in Lalor who are investing in solar, in batteries and in electric vehicles are part of the future, but they're also demonstrating that working class people care about the issues and care about their hip pocket. In Lalor, the clean energy transition is already delivering real benefits, cutting emissions, lowering costs and putting more money into the pockets of Australian families. The infrastructure is keeping up locally.”
“Through this partnership, Australians will be able to access discounted finance on eligible Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles, making it easier for more households to make the switch. At the same time, the Labor government has introduced policies like the fringe benefits tax exemption for electric vehicles which helps reduce the cost of EVs for Australian workers and families and, importantly, has created, or is partly responsible for, the second-hand EV market, which people in my electorate are jumping at, taking to like fish to water. Yet the opposition, particularly the Nationals, complain about the cost of living and interest rates while labelling the EV FBT exemption as wasteful. In my electorate, people are seeing this as an opportunity, an opportunity for working class people with long commutes to cheapen their travel costs.”
“Lalor is one of the leading electorates in Australia when it comes to the uptake of electric vehicles. According to the EVC, Tarneit and Werribee are among the top suburbs in the country for electric vehicle ownership, and the reason is simple. People in my community have long daily commutes for employment, and switching to an EV can save households up to $3,000 annually. This is money back in the pockets of families, money that can go towards groceries, energy bills, school costs and repayments. This government understands that supporting the clean energy transition must also make life more affordable for our communities. That's why the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has committed up to $60 million to partner with Hyundai Capital Australia to reduce the upfront cost of electric vehicle ownership.”
“This is really exciting news, and I'm really pleased to see that locals are getting the technology that is going to support them to decrease their energy bills. Families in my community are pairing solar with home batteries so they can store energy during the day and use it when they need it most in the evening when households are busiest and electricity demand is highest. This has been happening through a time where Victoria faced catastrophic weather and avoided the brownouts because of the number of people who were using solar. It tells us very important about the people in my electorate—they are practical, forward-thinking and looking for real ways to reduce their household bills. Clean energy is not just about the power in our homes. It is also about the way we move.”
“I rise today to speak about the clean energy transition and what it means for communities like mine in Lalor. Too often the conversation about clean energy can feel abstract or distant, but in Lalor it is neither of these things. It is already happening in people's homes, on their rooftops and, increasingly, in their driveways. In Lalor, local families are embracing practical clean energy solutions that lower bills and power their homes. Across the country, Australians have installed 250,000 home batteries with Labor's 30 per cent discount. My electorate has some of the highest battery installation rates in the country with more than 2,000 batteries installed, placing suburbs like Tarneit, Hoppers Crossing and Werribee among the top five in Australia for total installations.”
“I was pleased to be there to see this initiative changing lives, to hear from Avoca about the clinics that they have stood up in this space and to hear about the training that the specialist nurses, the physiotherapists, the nutritionists and the GPs are undertaking to ensure that women are getting the absolute best health care. I could not be prouder to be part of a government making sure that women are seen and heard. (Time expired)”
“That's backed by $49 million in national investment directly improving women's lives. IUDs and contraceptive implants are now easier and cheaper to access. With larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing, women are saving more. We've taken it a step further, building a national support system providing tailored care that didn't previously exist in our endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. Last week, I proudly stood beside the Prime Minister at the Werribee endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic that has opened in the last three weeks. It is one of the 33 around the country.”
“Over 7,000 women with endometriosis have accessed 30,000 scripts, saving them $5.7 million on treatments, and women undergoing IVF now have earlier and more affordable access to the care they need. We know that delivering for women's health is not a 'one size fits all' policy, and that's why we're strengthening Medicare so it works better for women and delivers the specialist care they've waited too long for. Medicare funded menopause health assessments have already been accessed by more than 71,000 women, and new Medicare items and higher rebates mean cheaper, more accessible gynaecological care, including longer consultations for more complex issues. Around 430,000 additional services have been funded for women with endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, chronic pelvic pain and other gynaecological conditions.”
“It takes time once you form government to get in, to get the priorities set, to get the departments working on what we need to do. That's why I rise today to say that this government's nearly $800 million landmark women's health package is righting a balance. It is not putting women before men. It is making sure that that balance is right and that women's health is being addressed in this country. We've done that through 3.2 million cheaper PBS prescriptions, where 700,000 women have accessed cheaper prescriptions. We've done it as a government that listed contraceptive pills on the PBS for the first time in more than 30 years. We've introduced the first new menopausal hormone therapies listed in over 20 years.”
“How do we know that? We know that because women make up 51 per cent of the population, yet they have been vacant in the health data over the last century. So this is a really important contribution today in terms of bringing this government's actions to the attention of the House, but also identifying what led to it taking these actions. I want to say upfront that the reason this has happened is that the female people around the country are now reflected in a government that has a majority of women at the table. That is why this has happened. It has happened because women have raised the issue that they have not been part of a dataset in medical history and that they can still be faced with medical misogyny at a GP visit, and that has driven a lot of this work. Obviously, it is work that takes time.”
“I rise to speak on the motion regarding women's health and on this government's actions to support women's health across the country. I want to thank the member for Moreton for bringing the debate forward. I want to thank the member for Spence and the member for Chisholm for their contributions. I want to thank the member for Kooyong for raising an issue today, which was canvassed by Four Corners , in relation to alleged victims of a surgeon in Melbourne, which has distressed people around the country. It goes to the heart of why this government is taking the action it is taking in women's health. I want to pay tribute to Assistant Ministers Kearney, White and McBride and Minister Butler for the work that they've done since we formed government. Medical misogyny has been alive and well in this country and internationally.”
“I declare that, unless otherwise ordered, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 stands referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration at the adjournment of the debate on the motion for the second reading of the bill.”
“From a 16-year-old ancestor of mine who got off a boat and walked farm to farm in the Geelong region looking for a job as a domestic servant, I am a descendant of immigrants, as are the majority of the people who are in this House every day. If we're going to talk about immigration, we do need to make sure that the facts that are put on the table are correct, and it is distressing to be part of debates where you can't rely on people's understanding of net migration, the different reasons people come to this country or the value that they bring when they come in through the door to us.”
“In the afternoon I was at a school graduation—a very new school in my community—with probably two of what are considered traditional Australian kids in that school. The school council president got up to make a speech—a Muslim man who has been in the country for three years. His child was one of the grade 6 graduates. He sent his love around the country on that day. He paused, on what should have been a celebration for those children, to mark that occasion and to make sure that everybody there understood how he was feeling, how our Muslim community was feeling and how important it was for us to come together to support these young people and to keep moving. Immigration has been the backbone of this country.”
“They're bringing want for their children to live in a great Australia. They come here to make a contribution and they are making a contribution every day in my community. I'm going to share a moment with the chamber, if I may, in terms of how this has manifested in my community. On 15 December, the morning after the Bondi massacre, I attended an event in my community. It was the retirement of a school principal of a Catholic primary school. When I arrived, that Catholic primary school greeted me and said, 'Joanne, in the shadow of the events of last night, thank you for being here to spend some time with the community.' I was able to speak and say how good it was to be with the community of faith on that morning, and to hear that community of faith send their love around the country to every Australian. It was a beautiful thing to do.”
“They thrive by looking after one another, they thrive by supporting one another, they thrive by challenging one another to do better every day. I absolutely understand that change, for some people, is difficult to deal with. I understand that the pace of change can be challenging for everyone. But I understand that our modern Australia relies on us to see our sameness rather than reflect on our difference, because what do we all want? We all want what's best for our children. We all want a thriving economy for our children to grow into. We all want a world-class education system for our children. I'll tell you what the first generation of Australian migrants are bringing to my community: they're bringing aspiration, they're bringing passion, they're bringing will and drive.”
“I rise in my place today the proud member for Lalor, Chief Government Whip responsible for the care and consideration of the members of the Labor Party of this House, and I join this debate. Every instinct in my being wants to leave this chamber rather than join this debate. I'll give you a couple of reasons. One is, as I listen to the tropes from some of those opposite, and I look to my left and I see a First Australian, I wonder who asked what they thought about immigrants coming to this country. I look across this chamber and I see modern Australia reflected here. I see the electorate I represent reflected here, an electorate where fifth-generation Australians thrive and first-generation Australians thrive, and they thrive by living together.”
“Forget the sheep's back; it's those moments in our classrooms where young people grasp a new skill, grasp a new idea, come to a new understanding, and that's why Labor supports public education.”
“When those opposite scream 'spending!', I want them on the record to say they're not going to cut education funding. I want to know that up front. My community deserves to know that. We're addressing the teacher shortage. It's the most important job in the world, but we don't have enough teachers. We need to attract more people to this great profession, a profession that gives you feedback every minute of the day. It's a profession that lets you see smiling children's faces, or watch children struggle with something and then come to their understanding of it in your presence, every day. I can't say this enough: those golden moments in classrooms are what our country is built on the back of.”
“There are lots of good economic reasons why there needs to be a significant spend to ensure fair funding in schools. As a Labor government, we don't need an economic reason to do the right thing; we only need to know that every child deserves the right to a quality education, and that's what this government is hell bent on delivering. We have the national agreement across the country getting things right. What we took up when we came to government, what we found were: attendance rates were going down, high school completion was going down—this century—teacher shortages were getting worse, and the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students was getting wider. Only Labor had a plan for Australian students and teachers. It's what our $16.5 billion Better and Fairer Schools Agreement is all about, and that's why it's so important.”
“Again, we can proudly say that our education minister and our caucus have taken up with both hands to ensure that we have scholarships to attract people to teaching, and the results are already on the board, with improvements in that area and more people signing up every day with the introduction of paid prac, which will assist those people doing their teaching degrees to do their prac placements and not be out of pocket—all things to make sure that people are attracted to teaching. As someone who spent decades in classrooms teaching our young people, I know how complex this work is. I know how much support every school, every system, every child needs to ensure that every young person in our school system reaches their potential, because this is what drives improved society and improved productivity for our country.”
“It is, therefore, a central pillar of any federal Labor government. I'm really pleased to see that the minister, the member for Blaxland, has been getting busy on making sure that we have a fair funding model for our schools. I note that, in the start of the 2026 school year, we can proudly say that we have delivered on national agreements to make sure that our public schools are getting the funding that they need and that our public schools are getting fair funding. When we came to government, of course, we followed the Morrison government, who had made sure that private schools had all reached fair funding but had ignored what was happening in the public sector. This was not only to that government's detriment but it was to our country's detriment. We also know that there was a chronic teacher shortage.”
“I stand here a proud Labor member, the member for Lalor, representing community in the outer west of Melbourne, in a seat where I follow Julia Gillard, our first female prime minister, who gave her public life to being a champion for public education in this country. I follow her as someone who spent 27 years in state education in Victoria, who finished as a school principal before coming to this place. I stand here proudly with the member for Bass, another teacher colleague, on my right and the member for Makin on my left. I'm proud because we are doing something to build that fairer education system that we know will transform our country, because education transforms lives, individual lives, the lives of our communities, our civil society, our economy. Education transforms our productivity.”
“I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges the start of the 2026 school year and the Government's record investment in Australian public schools through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement; (2) notes that this agreement represents the largest Commonwealth investment in public schools by any Australian Government ever and is tied to important reforms to lift student outcomes; (3) recognises the importance of teachers and the steps the Government is taking to tackle the teacher shortage; (4) further notes that new data shows more Australians are choosing to study teaching, supported by important measures to help more people start and finish teaching degrees including through: (a) Commonwealth Paid Prac for teaching students; (b) Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships; and (c) reforms to strengthen teacher training; (5) further acknowledges the national effort being undertaken with states and territories to prevent and respond to bullying in schools; and (6) affirms that the Government continues to invest in schools, support teachers, and is committed to building a better and fairer education system.”
“I declare that, unless otherwise ordered, the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 stands referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration at the adjournment of the debate on the motion for the second reading of the bill.”
“This adds to Gidget House opening in Point Cook and to the new endo and pelvic pain clinic that opened in Werribee this week at the Werribee Medical & Dental Centre.”
“The reform reduces cost-of-living pressures for families, it obviously strengthens primary health care and it ensures that your postcode does not determine your access to health care. Only Labor strengthens Medicare when families need it most, and it was great to be out in the community to see that happening firsthand. In those 31 bulk-billing clinics, now, all you really do need is your Medicare card to get your primary health. Doctors felt appreciated. It was also an honour for me to meet two young people, a son and a daughter of people who run clinics in my community, who had completed their medicine studies at the end of last year. It's absolutely fabulous—a second generation of doctors in my community. I also met another GP who has two sons currently studying medicine in Melbourne. It was fantastic.”