CANBERRA, ACT, June 10 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:
JODIE BELYEA, MEMBER FOR DUNKLEY:Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Dunkley. And I'm very thrilled to have the Prime Minister here, Anthony Albanese, back into Dunkley. It's always a thrill to have him here with me, alongside the community. About 12 months ago, we initiated a really exceptional campaign to ensure accessible help for people in communities across Australia, and here today we're at the Young Street Medical Clinic, one of 23 bulk billing clinics across the community of Dunkley. The Frankston Urgent Care Clinic is just around the corner, and we know that that has supported 40,000 community members to access health appointments from there. I'm very pleased, as a Labor member, to see the investment into health and services across this community, we've got endometriosis clinics that they've been established, and we've also seen a great investment into reproductive health. I was very excited just two weeks ago to be involved in launching the campaign for menopause and perimenopause. This government is doing exceptional things for healthcare in this country, and I would now like to introduce the Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks so much, Jodie. It's fantastic to be back in your electorate of Dunkley, where you are such a strong advocate for this local community, and there's nowhere where that's more important than in healthcare. One of the things we committed to was to ensure that we strengthen Medicare, and we've done that in a range of ways in our budget. The largest additional investment was $25 billion of additional funding for public hospitals right around Australia. For Victoria, that meant an extra $5.8 billion for the health system over the next five years, taking Victoria's total hospital funding to $53 billion over that five years. We opened one of the first urgent care clinics just around the corner here, as well, one of the now 137 that we have operating around Australia, which have seen some 3 million people go through those urgent care clinics. Making that gap between the local GP and the hospital, so that if the kid or adult has an accident on a weekend at a sporting event, they can go somewhere, get the health care they need with just their Medicare card. Where it's in between a GP visit and the emergency department of a hospital, and that takes pressure off the EDs right around Australia, including the emergency department here in Frankston. And here at this clinic, the Young Street Medical and Dental Centre, it is one of the success stories. We tripled the bulk billing incentive. Firstly, we did that for concession card holders in two budgets ago, and we did that, and that was successful in raising bulk billing rates. But we went further at the last election, we committed to and put it in the budget, the tripling of the bulk billing incentive that had an objective of reaching 90 per cent by 2030. Well, the good news is not only are we achieving that, we are far exceeding that. 90,000 patients have now visited this clinic alone, and all they've needed is this little bit of green & gold plastic, their Medicare card, their Medicare card that says it all about Australian values. It says whether you're a billionaire or whether you are a pensioner, whether you're a student, whether you're young or old, you will get the health care that you need when you need it with this bit of green and gold plastic that is green and gold for a reason in our national colours, because this says so much about Australia's values, about Australia's values of the fair go, about compassion, about care. And I want to pay tribute to the doctors and nurses and health professionals I've met here this morning, who are delivering, really proud of the services that they're delivering here. This will make such an enormous difference.We have now reached 3800 fully bulk billed practices, that was the target of where we thought we might be by 2028. We've delivered it by mid 2026, so more than on track to exceed and to get that 90 per cent bulk billing rate well before 2030 which was the objective when we introduced the policy. And what it's doing, of course, is if you have two medical practices in an area, one of them is fully bulk billed, the other isn't, then it drives attention and clients and patients towards the bulk billing clinics, which is why there's a real incentive and a financial interest in doing it. This is an example of good policy making enormous difference, and when someone visits a GP here and gets a script, they'll pay just $25 for a script, if it's on the PBS, and if they're a concession card holder, they'll pay just $7.70, a price that is frozen until 2030 making an enormous difference for people. So, whether it's getting a pharmaceutical script filled, whether it's seeing a GP, whether it's urgent care clinic, or whether it is a public hospital that you need healthcare from, what we are doing is putting Medicare at the centre of delivery and making sure that healthcare is something after a period of decline under the former government, we are delivering, and that is what we want, delivering real change, whether it be in healthcare, whether it be in education, whether it be in access to housing, in all of these policy frames, that is what our objective is, and Jodie Belyea is such a fantastic advocate, making sure that the government continues to deliver for this fantastic growing community. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: No question on this directly, but Pauline Hanson has established an ad report against your government with a slogan, 'Fire the liar'. What do you make of that?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll let Pauline Hanson engage in negative activity. What I'm doing here is actually doing something real for people, and that's the difference. Promoting division takes the country nowhere, and what we do is promote health care, promote the better schools funding that began here in schools in this local community right throughout Victoria this year. The access to housing that we want to make sure occurs through the first homeowners support for just 5 per cent deposits that have helped 250,000 people in the home ownership, whether it be making sure that negative gearing and capital gains are reformed, so that first homeowners get a fair crack. All of these measures, that is what I concentrate on, and that's what my government will continue to be focused on.
JOURNALIST: Just on CGT. You and the treasurer have been consulting on carve-up, carve-outs for startups. Will you consider submissions made to the inquiry? And does that inquiry turn weight for you?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course it does. We've already had this, this is the second inquiry that we've had. The first one was initiated by the Greens, the Liberals, and the Nationals last year. So this is a second inquiry. We're a government that responds to the needs of the community. What we know that we're responding to here is the fact that the housing system in Australia is broken. No one out there in all of the press conferences. I do them on a daily basis, right around the country, in Bendigo yesterday, in Queensland on the weekend, in Canberra on Monday. No one comes to those press conferences, says there's nothing wrong with the housing system. It's all, young people can get a fair crack. Everyone knows it's broken. Everyone knows that young people are not getting a fair crack at a roof over their head, which is why we're pursuing reform. Reform is always hard when it comes to tax reform, but it's the right thing to do.
JOURNALIST: Just back on that Pauline Hanson, and I know you said you wanted to leave the negativity to Pauline, but that was the direct response to a Labor ad asking for $27 to help combat One Nation
PRIME MINISTER: We do ads all the time. We do ads all the time because we have supporters and what we do is we ask our supporters to provide support for the Labor Party. Nothing unusual about that. We do on a regular basis out there and I'm pleased that it's been pretty successful, I've got to say.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of the slogan, 'Fire the liar'?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll leave the negativity to someone who has made a career out of seeking to divide people and seeking to be negative and you know, I'll stick to what I'm here for and what people will weigh up over a period of time is what's the policy on health? What's the policy on education? What's the policy on the minimum wage for working people? Why is it that One nation and their three right wing parties, I've deemed the Liberal One National Party, always vote against the interests of working people, whether it be opposing the minimum wage increase that we saw just at the beginning of last week or whether it be other measures like same jobs same pay. The investment in health, the investment in education, the support for young people getting a crack at home ownership, they're the things that matter.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when it comes to the issue of migration, how could you win over One Nation's increasing support base?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we have is if you look around this clinic here, at the doctors and nurses who are looking after people here, take out those people who were not born in Australia and see how you go, see how you go, see how you go if you turn up at a hospital, at an aged care facility. So, migration is something that needs to be appropriate. But we shouldn't denigrate people who are here, the fantastic people I've met here this morning, doctors, nurses, other health professionals who are helping out their fellow Australians. And so what I seek is to bring people together. We've reduced net overseas migration by 45 per cent from its peak. There was always going to be a spike post Covid. That is natural. We stopped Australians coming home. But what I seek is to bring people together. That's the role of leadership. Leaders bring people together and unite, seek to unite the nation, don't seek to divide it. What I seek to do is to bring the nation together. It's the best country on earth and one of the things that make this the best country on earth is our population. Whether it be First Nations people who've been here for 65,000 years, or whether it be people who are recent arrivals who've come to make a better life for themselves, but also to contribute to the nation and to work hard and get ahead. That's what's built this nation.
JOURNALIST: You called it the One National Party, but yesterday the Premier, Jacinta Allan, admitted for the first time that One Nation is actually stealing votes from Labor here in Victoria. Is there reason to be concerned for the November state election? And is Jacinta Allan fit to run as Premier?
PRIME MINISTER: Jacinta Allan's doing a great job as the Premier and she's the only one with the capacity, the experience and the team to continue to govern Victoria successfully. If you look at the new hospital just up the road here, that's an example of investment. If you look at the investment around the railway station here, I've been coming to Frankston for a long period of time and I've seen the growth that's here and the investment in services. I've been to the local sporting facilities here with Jodie. I know the work that goes into local schools here as well that I've visited. Jacinta Allan is someone I've known for a long period of time. She has strength, she has character and she'll continue to pursue the interests of Victorians.
JOURNALIST: Is it time for her to step back though, now that polls show Labor would have a better chance without her?
PRIME MINISTER: I think I just answered that question. And the Premier of Victoria, when people go to an election, what they do is focus on what the needs of Victorians are. Go back and have a look at what some people were saying about in the lead up to the federal election, including, you're from the Herald Sun. I'm sure you will be able to find one or two articles that were critical of me and my chances of re-election in the lead up to 2025. And you know fair enough, people will make these comments. I think the results are, the scoreboard showed in 2025 when people looked at these sort of policies that make a difference to people, politics isn't a game, it's about making a difference to people's lives. That's what Labor governments do, make a positive difference to people's lives.
JOURNALIST: Why would, given that Labor does have the policies that you say, why would voters be turning away from Labor to One Nation? Why do you think that is?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you assume that that's the case. Polls, what they do is they state a view at a period of time, not necessarily when people vote, they're putting numbers on ballot and numbers in little boxes for who they actually want to govern. Quite clearly right around the world there's, I gave a speech about this on Friday, there is some frustration with the system and whether the system is working for people and that's something that we're very conscious of. That's something that we're not. Not enough to identify an issue. What you've got to do is identify a solution. What we're doing here with the health system is we identified an issue with a fall in bulk billing rates, we came up with a positive, practical funded solution of urgent care clinics being created, 137 of them now. Of tripling the bulk billing incentive, of reducing the costs of medicines, of increasing the funding for the public hospital network in consultation with every state and territory government. That's what governments do. And when people make their assessment of voting, it's up to them to determine what way they vote. But they'll determine it based upon who is in a position to actually provide solutions for challenges which are always there.
JOURNALIST: The Australian newspaper reports the Allan government has sent letters of comfort to Fire Rescue Victoria and the EPA in 2024 to back them against poor financial performance. Does that show the Allan government is managing finances correctly?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven't seen the report but you know the Australian from time to time. Are you from the Oz?
JOURNALIST: I'm from Sky News.
PRIME MINISTER: All right. From time to time I've noticed they're critical of Labor governments. That's okay, but you know, I haven't seen the specific reports.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, were you told beforehand that the US would launch fresh strikes against Iran?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't comment on national security matters. What I say is, or briefings that we received. I received some briefings this morning and one of the things I say is we continue to call for a de-escalation of the conflict. It's having an impact here. You know, one of the things that isn't on the front page of newspapers, perhaps should be, is that the Opposition were all saying that there would be restrictions on people getting access to petrol and fuel. Prior to Easter, there was a run on. People were filling up jerry cans and people were filling up, in some cases filling up water tanks. Very dangerous practise. They were storing them in their garage. Guess what? That was a problem easy to identify, easy to amplify the problem. What we did was provide solutions. There is now more fuel in Australia today than There was on February 28 when this conflict arose. We went about and engaged with our partners in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, South Korea. The Opposition Leader, or one of the opposition leaders, Mr Taylor, was very critical, said it's a waste of time, dismissed what we were doing there. And as a direct result of what we've done through Export Finance Australia, purchasing spot purchases of cargoes of diesel, of jet fuel, of fertilizer, as well as petrol is to make a difference for people. I spoke with Premier Li of China. We've secured jet fuel. I spoke with the ambassador to Australia from China just yesterday, confirming the arrangements in place for Australia to have access to jet fuel. And he also spoke about fertiliser. It's one of the things that we do is engage constructively in the national interest and that's what we'll continue to do going forward. Labor is now the only party that is in the mainstream of Australian politics that is engaged with serious solutions going forward. I look forward to continuing to do so. Before I conclude, I just say I will have the honour of being at the memorial service for Neale Daniher. He is just, an extraordinary life that he led for him over 13 years, suffering from the beast, as he called it. Motor neurone disease is a terrible disease. We do need to continue investing in research to find a cure. But the way that he conducted himself was, I'm sure, a great source of pride for every Victorian, for every Australian, because he led a life that was all about others and he today, I'm sure it will be a very sombre. But also there'll be an element of pride and positivity and optimism from today's service because that is how he conducted himself. Sorry, you haven't had one, last one
JOURNALIST: I've just got some questions on housing, I'm from the Age newspaper. To what extent have short term or Airbnb rentals contributed to the tightness of the rental market?
PRIME MINISTER: They're obviously a factor. It varies from place to place, but they're a factor. Thank you.
JOURNALIST:What do you think cities like Paris and Amsterdam to actually crack down on the short term rental market over concerns they are eating into the long term rental market?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, my concentration is on Australian public policy and we are putting forward real solutions in our budget. These are changes and reforms that are necessary. They're ones that have been called for for a long period of time. I'm sure there are many editorials in the Age and the Herald sun and the Australian and every newspaper in the country over many years saying what we need is real tax reform. We're delivering real tax reform. It's making a positive difference and I look forward to engaging through the Senate processes and through the Parliament to make sure it's delivered. Not because it's easy, but because it's necessary. Because we need to make sure that your generation and those younger to come have the same opportunity that my generation have had to own your own home. You know, housing fundamentally is about a roof over your head. That is what it is about. And we need to remember that, you know, it can be an investment vehicle, but primarily its purpose is giving a home for Australians. That's what we're aiming for, whilst putting in reforms that grandfather the changes to negative gearing that are important so that people can continue to do that. But in future, by making it just for new homes and new builds, what it will do is make sure that they're building an asset. Anyone who invests and uses negative gearing will build an asset not just for themselves and their future wealth, but for the future wealth and assets of the nation. Thanks very much. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
