Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: There are three sitting weeks left of the Parliament for 2025. And myself, the Labor team, including Julie-Ann Campbell, Member for Moreton, are all here determined to deliver in those final weeks.
Already, you have seen the Albanese government deliver 100,000 home batteries installed across Australia because of our Cheaper Home Batteries plan. You have seen 2 million visits to the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics that just a few months ago, the Coalition were trying to fight, defund, and close at the federal election. You have seen us deliver when it comes to first home buyers now being able to access throughout this month of October, 5 per cent deposit, so they can get buy their first home without having to save as much money or having to wait quite as long.
And this week, we will deliver into the Parliament our package of environmental reforms that are better for business and better for our environment and deliver on the Graeme Samuel's review that Sussan Ley herself commissioned. Because we know that if you back Australia's environment, you should back this Bill. If you back Australia's jobs, you should back this Bill. And if you back resource states, like my great state of Western Australia, you should back this Bill. Because it's all about delivering long overdue reforms that are so badly needed to make sure we have laws of the 21st century. Not being stuck with laws that were introduced by John Howard, back in the last century. And we're here, the Albanese government itself, Julie-Ann, the whole team, determined to deliver through the Parliament.
But we have learned a little bit about what the Coalition are here to do this week. What they are here to do this week is to debate a big question for them. The Coalition are going to debate all throughout the week the question 'is climate change real?' That is what they are debating. They are having a meeting today for the Coalition at 10.15am where they will discuss whether or not climate change is real and then whether they want to do anything about it. Then they have another meeting. And then, if they haven't met enough, and haven't debated out this singular question enough, they'd be told to keep the hotel bookings on Thursday night, stick around, push your flights back, and then spend a whole day on Friday, once again, having that core debate of 'is climate change real?'
Now they have lost frontbenchers over this. We are seeing the slow motion replay of a former Deputy Prime Minister leaving the Coalition over this question of climate change.
Now, the Australian people know that climate action is in our national interest. It is in their interest, and the fact that we've got the Coalition is in such disarray on such a basic question of scientific fact, tells you everything about the problems we know are out there in the public. Then, I think we will all be very interested to know what's being debated in that room. But based on current performance, they'll probably be hitting the phones to journalists minutes after they walk out of that meeting to all give free character assessments of one another.
I have talked about what the Albanese government is delivering. We also have a huge agenda when it comes to investing in health for the Australian people. To talk more about that, I'll hand over to Julie-Ann Campbell.
JULIE-ANN CAMPBELL, MEMBER FOR MORETON: Thank you very much, Patrick. As the Assistant Minister said, this is an Albanese government with its eye firmly fixed on making sure that we're delivering for everyone across the country. And that has never been clearer than when it comes to the investment that we are making in health care. We have seen it in Urgent Care Clinics. We have seen it in Medicare Mental Health Clinics. We have seen it in the investment that we are making in bulk billing. And we have never seen it more clearly than when it comes to women's health.
This Labor government has made the largest investment in women's health in history. And what does that mean? It means that if women want to access contraceptives, that became easier because we have put new contraceptives on the PBS for the first time in 30 years. What does that mean for women? It means that women who are seeking a menopause assessment can now have that on a rebate through Medicare. And what does that mean? It means that medicines are getting cheaper, and when it comes to contraceptives, we are now adding another contraceptive to the PBS, a vaginal ring, that will mean that no one will ever pay more for that contraceptive than $25. This is about investment.
And the contrast between the Albanese Labor Government and the Coalition has never been starker. We have an Albanese Labor Government that is focusing on delivering every day, particularly on health, and we have an opposition who are only ever focused on themselves and in-fighting. Thank you.
