Good afternoon, everyone. It is wonderful to have the Prime Minister visit the new Coburg Medicare Urgent Care Clinic here at 444 Sydney Road, in the heart of Coburg. It's a wonderful location, and it's very, very popular with all the community members that I've been talking to about the grand opening, which is going to happen at 8am on Monday morning. But it's great to have the Prime Minister here to officially open the new MUCC. I will say we've also got Ged Kearney here, my great neighbour in the neighbouring electorate of Cooper, who's done a terrific amount of work, not just on Medicare, but particularly on women's health. We were just talking about that, when she was Assistant Minister for Health in the first term. So, a lot of great work there.
This is one of the legacy pieces of the Albanese Government, that the amount of impact that it has on the community. The investment in Medicare, the investment in bulk billing, investment in these Medicare Urgent Care Clinics is going to be remembered and acknowledged for generations, because it has a real impact on community. Every person I speak to out there on Sydney Road, when I say we're opening up this new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, their eyes light up. They say, 'this is fantastic. We need this.' Being able to get this kind of non-life threatening, but urgent care late at night on weekends is a must for this community. So, it's very, very popular. And I'm so pleased that we were able to get one here in Coburg. We need one in this part of Melbourne. And the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health, Mark Butler, have done a terrific job in this space. So, thank you, Prime Minister, for that commitment to health care for Australians. And it is going to be great to open this up on Monday, which happens to also be my birthday. So I'm looking forward to coming down at 8am - not to get any treatment, but just to see the first patients come through. My office is just down the road. So, with that, I'll hand over to the PM to say a few words. Thanks, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Peter. And it's fantastic to be back in your electorate of Wills with, of course, your predecessor on the cake -
KHALIL: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: Bob Hawke, of course, the Member for Wills. We remember one of the great legacies of the Hawke Government was the creation of Medicare, and what it needed was a long term Labor Government to entrench it, because we know that Gough Whitlam created Medibank, but it was destroyed by a Coalition incoming government. And it was only Bob Hawke winning four elections and then Paul Keating winning the 1993 Election that entrenched Medicare as a permanent feature of our health system. Of course, that hasn't stopped Liberal and Coalition governments undermining Medicare by trying to introduce a co-payment, which would have meant that literally no one got health assistance with just their Medicare card. So, it's one of the great divides in Australian politics, one of those value issues that a Labor Government will always value Medicare and will always seek to strengthen it. And I do want to join Peter in paying tribute to Ged Kearney and the work that she's done in strengthening Medicare, particularly the Women's Health Package, the largest women's health package that Australia has ever seen, making an incredible difference. I was at one of the endo clinics down in the electorate of Lalor, just a couple of weeks ago and talking to people there about the difference that that has made to their lives. 33 of them open around the country, making a positive difference.
Here, of course, with the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, this is one of the 137 that we've committed to. Almost all of them are now open. We promised in 2022 to deliver 50. We delivered 87. And then in the election, just last year, less than a year ago, we promised another 50, and almost all of them are opened. The final ones opening in these weeks. And we're hoping that they're all open before the Budget. Now, these are fantastic. And this one here, of course, is brand spanking new. And I want to pay tribute to the doctors and the nurses and the health professionals who will service people who come here without notice, just rock up, that's what you can do to get the health care you need when you need it. So, it's important for people's health. And the people I've spoken to in Urgent Care Clinics right around the country, the satisfaction rate is extraordinary. They're shocked that they can rock up here, for themselves or for their children, because one in three of the more than two million people who've received support through a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic are under the age of 16. They can rock up, get the care they need when they need it. Really important for people's health. But not just for people's health - also good for the health of their bank balance. Because all they need is this little piece of plastic. All they need is their green and gold Medicare card. It's green and gold for a reason, because it speaks about Australian values, that whether you're a billionaire or whether you are someone who is under financial difficulty, you get the same care, and that is absolutely important to who we are. The third thing it's good for, of course, is the overall health system, because it takes pressure off the emergency departments of hospitals. If someone has a broken arm or someone has a cut, they can get come here instead of waiting hour after hour, while more acute and life threatening cases jump the queue - quite rightly - ahead of them in emergency departments. So, it's taking pressure off them as well. A good primary health care system is so important.
Now, when you combine this with the tripling of the bulk billing incentive, that has seen more than 1,300 clinics, not just individuals, but clinics, go to fully bulk billing every single patient with just their Medicare card required, now that is making an enormous difference as well, with bulk billing rates rising after the decline that occurred under the former government. And so that, together with the $25 billion of additional investment we've put into the hospital system through state governments, with our Health and Hospitals Agreement for the next five years, it just shows the work that we are doing on health is making an incredible difference. And congratulations to everyone - for Peter who fought to get this Urgent Care Clinic right here. It will make a difference to the lives of people in this local community. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Donald Trump says that Australia should get involved in the war - I guess you've seen these remarks that he's surprised that Australia has said no. What have you said no to?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not conscious of that at all. The truth is that we have said yes to the request of the UAE for the E-7 Wedgetail Aircraft. That's operating there with personnel operating as well. In addition to that, we've sent MRAAMs. That's making a difference as well to intercept missiles or drones aimed at the UAE. So, we continue to provide the support that we have been asked to provide.
JOURNALIST: If the President does ask -
PRIME MINISTER: Well, he hasn't asked, so I'm not going to go through hypotheticals. We have done what we have asked been asked to do.
JOURNALIST: So, you don't know what he means?
PRIME MINISTER: We have done what we have been asked to do. There are comments at various times, I've said very early on, I don't intend to comment on all of what someone else says, and I stand by that. We've signed up to the statement that's been issued, has been coordinated by the United Kingdom that speaks about the work that we're doing to ensure the Straits of Hormuz are open. That's critical. And we again call upon the Iranian regime to stop its attacks, whether it be on the economic foundations of global trade, or whether it be on the 12 neighbours that it has attacked, unprovoked, whatsoever, not participants in the war, but have been attacked by Iran. It's difficult to see what their strategy is, except for alienating the Iranian regime from all of its neighbours.
JOURNALIST: Is - President Trump's obviously had a go at Australia, Japan, Korea, all of NATO - is he bullying allies?
PRIME MINISTER: I had a very positive conversation with President Trump, one on one, on the phone just a little over a week ago. We continue to engage constructively with our American friends.
JOURNALIST: There are reports that there will be, we won't be restricting petrol from Asian suppliers using Russian crude oil. So, has there been any lifting? Or will there be any easing on the sanctions of Russian, on Russia, and is Russia benefiting from this issue in Iran and the oil shortages?
PRIME MINISTER: No, what we are doing is talking with our partners, making sure that the secure relationship that we have continues. So, for example, I'll be having conversations, it's booked in, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore. We've spoken to our Korean friends, our Japanese friends as well. We remain a secure supplier of energy, and we expect those secure supplies to come our way as well.
JOURNALIST: The ACCC is now letting fuel companies coordinate distribution between them. How quickly do you think that will have an impact to restock fuel where it's out of action? In New South Wales, for instance, empty fuel servos?
PRIME MINISTER: What we know is that there hasn't been less supply over the last few weeks, there have been issues of distribution. So, there have been shortages in some areas. The ACCC have been given the power to ensure that those distribution issues are dealt with in a practical way. And that's why this change, allowing them to talk to each other, is really a common sense change that we've been able to deal with. I convened the National Cabinet on Thursday. The Commonwealth is responsible for supply, the states and territories are responsible for distribution. But what we're doing by establishing the Taskforce is making sure that there's seamless cooperation and coordination between Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments, but also working with our industry partners as well. And can I say a range of industry partners have reached out making sure that they're cooperating. Just yesterday as well, we ensured that the two remaining refineries that we inherited - there were six refineries in operation around Australia when we left office in 2013, at the end of Angus Taylor and co's period in office, there were just two remaining. We're making sure that those two continue to operate.
JOURNALIST: What do you think the impact will be on distribution, how quick?
PRIME MINISTER: It will make a difference. We need to identify where there are shortages and get fuel to where it's needed.
JOURNALIST: We know that Treasury is modelling options to tax gas companies more. Will you raise the PRRT?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll have a Budget on the second Tuesday in May. And what we're doing is, is having appropriate discussions. We'll continue to do that. We'll work through - the only tax policy and changes we have locked in are the cuts to income tax on July 1 and then another tax cut the year after. They are, of course, tax cuts that were opposed by the Coalition that they said they would reverse if they'd have won the election on May 3 last year.
JOURNALIST: But why now? Then why are we doing this modelling now?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no idea what - bureaucrats do modelling. If that's the case, then good on them. That's what happens in the lead up to budgets, as the bureaucrats go about modelling different policy scenarios. So be it. That's called good government.
JOURNALIST: How close is the Prime Ministerial finger to pushing the button that says, 'fuel rationing'?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a decision for State and Territory Government, so it's not a question for me. But our supply, our supply - as of today, we have 38 days of petrol, 30 days of diesel, 30 days of jet fuel, which is an increase in what there was. Now, importantly - that's an update as of this morning, latest figures. Importantly, you'll note that that hasn't gone down, as what's happening is that every single, every single, expected arrival of fuel has arrived. So that has occurred. We're an orderly government. We again, are dealing with distribution issues. We're also again calling upon people to engage in a way that we expect Australians to engage: looking after each other, your neighbours, your communities, and indeed, the national interest. There's no case for hoarding. People filling up jerry cans, keeping fuel in your garage, a bit like what happened in COVID, people filling up their garage with toilet paper. Toilet paper is less dangerous than fuel. There's a different aspect here as well. So, people need to engage responsibly, and I'm sure that overwhelmingly, that's what Australians will do.
JOURNALIST: What about the International Energy Agency's suggestions? You know, three days work from home, reduce speeds on highways - is that something that you'll introduce?
PRIME MINISTER: They're not suggestions to us, of course - they're suggestions to the world. So, the IEA head will be here, remarkably. On Monday, he'll be addressing the National Press Club. I look forward to welcoming him, having a chat with him on Monday. And I look forward as well to welcoming Ursula von der Leyen, the leader of Europe, here on Tuesday. She'll address the parliament on Tuesday as well, and that will be the first time that a European leader has addressed our National Parliament in a joint sitting. That will be a very good thing, and will be an important opportunity as well. One of the things that my Government has done is to reach out to countries, whether it be Canada, who - Mark Carney was here just a couple of weeks ago. Whether it be the work that we're doing with our European partners. The work that we're doing with ASEAN in Southeast Asia, the building up of relationships with Indonesia, with India, the alliance with Papua New Guinea, our first new alliance since 1951 is an example of the work that we are doing. What that does, those partnerships strengthen our national position, as well strengthen our national resilience, and that's a key. We know that the world is a turbulent place, and that is why we're making sure that we build that national resilience, that we make more things here in Australia. You know, on Friday, just yesterday, seems like long time ago, I was in Whyalla and Looking at the steelworks that, together with the Malinauskas Government that I certainly hope has re-elected today, we've partnered to make sure that they continue to make steel there. The day before, Thursday, I was with the Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Denmark at INCAT in Tasmania, in the suburbs of Hobart that are building the world's largest electric ferries, making an enormous difference as well, something we can be really proud of. We need to build our national resilience. That will be a major focus of the Budget on the second Tuesday in May, and I look forward to talking with you in between now and then.
