E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
HEALTHFOUNT MEDICAL CENTRE
MONDAY, 21 APRIL 2025

SUBJECTS: $24.3 million healthcare plan for the ACT; Pezzullo.

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Great to be here. I thank Dr Rotimi for allowing us into this practise this afternoon, and so we will try and be very quick, because there are patients that are due this afternoon for their afternoon appointments. But it's great to be here with my federal colleagues, Dave Smith, Andrew Leigh, and Alicia Payne, to really outline Labor's commitment to primary care in the ACT, our plan for healthcare, but also some additional investment in aged care as well. So, last week you would've seen that we've made a $3.8 million commitment to ensure that in Tuggeranong, in Dave's patch, where he's been a very strong advocate, that the Interchange general practise remains open and able to continue to provide care to their patients and that it's open for the long term. But also, importantly, another $10.5 million dollars going into ensuring that we can bring three fully bulk-billing general practise clinics to the ACT, essentially providing some incentive support for those practises to come to the ACT, to bring additional GPs to those practises, so that Canberrans will get more of an opportunity for bulk billing GP care. We know that there is a GP shortage in the ACT. There's also a bulk billing – our levels of bulk billing are much lower than other parts of Australia, particularly in capital cities. And something needs to change, because we've been working on this for over a decade. We know that Medicare suffered under the Liberal party when they stopped indexing MBS. That really hurt general practise. We've been investing in general practise since that time, but over and above what we've already announced across the country – so, tripling at the bulk billing rate, all of those investments in mental healthcare – we needed to do something a little bit different in the ACT because of our unique circumstances. So, that will mean just over $14 million, a re-elected Albanese government will ensure that we are able to attract new doctors and more bulk-billing clinics to the ACT.

And you may also be aware of some of the conversation around Burrangiri, the aged care respite centre and the decision of the ACT Government to close that respite centre. We've been talking with our federal colleagues about what we can do, how can we step in and provide some support particularly to those using Burrangiri. And so, we also announce $10 million for extra respite aged care beds in the ACT. So, that brings the total package to about $24 million. Really going to those areas of pressure, as I said, the majority in making sure we can get bulk billing rates up and more GPs to the ACT, but also that we are providing a longer-term solution to those families that have been using aged care respite services in the ACT. I'll just see if any of my colleagues want us to jump in and say anything, and happy to take questions.

THE HON ANDREW LEIGH MP, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY: Well, thanks very much, Katy. And you can see the value of having a former ACT health minister here now as the Finance Minister, working to deal with this challenge of bulk billing, which has been longstanding in the ACT. My predecessor, Bob McMullan, said one of his proudest achievements was in helping establish in the national health co-op, which kicked off originally in Charnwood and then spread out across the north side, including this practise, which was part of the national health co-op for a period. That wasn't able to continue. And the collapse of the national health co-op has been one of the factors that's placed pressure on bulk billing here in the ACT. We are working on all fronts to get bulk billing rates up in the ACT. Tripling that bulk billing incentive, putting real money behind getting bulk-billing doctors here in Canberra. Canberrans have the same right as people in the rest of Australia to see a bulk-billing doctor, and only a Labor government is going to make that happen. On the other side, you've got Peter Dutton, voted by Australia's doctors as the worst health minister in 50 years, somebody who tried to completely end bulk billing in the 2014 budget, somebody who would have to rip billions of dollars out of health, again, in order to pay for his $600 billion nuclear scheme. So, the choice of the next election is very simple. A Labor government working to boost bulk billing levels and an Opposition under whom bulk billing would go the same way as it went when they were last in government.

ALICIA PAYNE MP, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Canberra has had a longstanding problem with our rates of bulk billing, some of the lowest in the country. And that's why we are listening to Canberrans. And on top of the investment we are making in tripling the incentive to doctors to bulk bill, we are pulling extra levers to ensure that Canberrans will get access to their healthcare they deserve, making sure that more GPs will come into Canberra and offer bulk billing services, which is incredibly important. Our biggest concern as the Labor Party, of course, is people who can't afford to go to the doctor at the moment and therefore put it off, worsening their health and also putting unnecessary pressure on our hospital system. And this is why this is so important for the health of Canberrans and for the system as a whole.

DAVID SMITH MP, MEMBER FOR BEAN: So, this news is really welcome news and it comes on top of the Urgent Care Clinic in Woden, which of course is GP-led. And the great news last week in terms of ensuring that the Interchange practise continues to operate. And there's great news for patients right across Canberra, but all this is at risk from Tuesday up to 3 May, because we know with the Urgent Care Clinic in Woden, that this is something that a Dutton government won't guarantee will be funded. So, if we want to increase bulk billing rates right across the Territory, and that's what we are hearing on the doors everywhere, you have to vote Labor on 3 May.

JOURNALIST: Andrew Leigh himself said that this GP shortage in the ACT hasn't happened overnight. So, why has it taken this long to get some commitment for Canberrans?

GALLAGHER: Well, I've been working on this for over a decade. We've been looking at this from every which way. I mean, it's why the walk-in centres were created, because there was simply no single solution to what we were seeing in the ACT. And we know the walk-in centres changed things. It meant that people were able to get access to urgent out-of-hours healthcare without paying, but we need to do more. And it's a very unique set of circumstances here. We have quite a number of GPs, many of them don't work in general practise, which comes in a place like Canberra. And so we've been looking at it and watching the tripling, the bulk billing incentive that we did in the last Budget and how that's worked. And certainly that has changed things in the ACT. We've had 44,000 more bulk-billed presentations, so that's good. But that was really targeted to concession card holders and 16-year-olds. We've now tripled the bulk billing rate across the board. And then we've really looked at our low GP rates, but also the thing that would switch the dial to make a GP bulk bill. And part of that is trying to bring in clinics that are just bulk billing like this one, but just do bulk billing. And the $10.5 million essentially is to incentivise those practises coming to the ACT and adding to our supply.

JOURNALIST: How long do you expect the funding to last for. Obviously, a commitment like this where bulk billing is reliant on funding from government?

GALLAGHER: So, this funding would be available immediately. We would go to the PHN, to the primary healthcare network and they would commission these clinics. And it really is an incentive payment because once they're here and they've got their infrastructure set up, the tripling of the bulk billing rate actually makes the business decision one that the clinic can pursue, so it isn't a matter of not being able to afford to bulk bill, because the tripling of the bulk billing rate is sort of the foundation that everything else hangs off. So, the payments we would put in over and above that really are to attract and get people here. I should have also said, we'll also be introducing the single employment model. So, that will help. We've seen how that's worked in other parts, not in a metro area. So, the ACT is the first one to get this model, and that will mean that GPs are able to do rotations. Maybe they work for ACT Health, but they can come out into general practise and not lose their entitlements. And we know that that is something that GPs think about when they're taking up opportunities. So, I think between the range of things that we are putting on, we're really trying to shake things up and make sure that bulk billing is a genuine offer for Canberra patients, but they have more choice, more GPs, that bulk billing rates increase, that our overall number of GPs increase and that the government can support and incentivise that action.

JOURNALIST: Obviously, Burrangiri is going to close at some point. So, what is the short term, I guess, response that people that are needing respite care are able to go to while another source of the funding that you promised in between that?

GALLAGHER: Well, a couple of things there. I am speaking almost daily with Rachel Stephen-Smith about this, because I think this is something that has kind of emerged in the last little while and was outside or without knowledge from the Federal Government. Burrangiri had existed as an ACT Government facility that wasn't covered under the Commonwealth age care regulation. So, it kind of sat outside our area. But it is something that we've had people come and talk to us about. And I've had wives whose spouses use Burrangiri and who are really upset about what's happening. So, a couple of things. We can ensure that the $10 million is to actually create the same number of beds, respite beds in the ACT. Obviously, a re-elected Albanese government would move very quickly to talk with providers. We know that there may be some providers now that can convert their existing infrastructure into providing that type of care, or it may be a new facility. Obviously, we would be really happy if we could get something very quickly done so that there is continuity of care for those people. The ACT Government advises me that Carers ACT also has a gateway that people can contact and that there are respite options available. But I understand that the people who use Burrangiri are very familiar with that service and are very keen to have a like service. But at the moment the ACT Government isn't considering keeping that facility open.

JOURNALIST: Would that be something the Federal Government, and I don't know if that is available, that you could step in to take over Burrangiri?

GALLAGHER: Well, I'm having discussions with the Minister for Health locally. I mean, she's open to having further discussions with the Commonwealth, but I understand that is – they want to do some work about how they use that facility and also upgrade it at the same time. It needs about $1 million dollars’ worth of upgrades bring it to standard, but they're also considering how does it fit in with all of the different facilities they run. But she's open to a further discussion with us and we are putting some money on the table to say that we want to continue to see 15 respite care beds provided to the Canberra community over and above what's provided by other providers.

JOURNALIST: Just a question on the public service. Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Mike Pezzullo would have a role to play in the future of the country if the Coalition wins the election. What do you make of that statement?

GALLAGHER: Well, the PM said this morning they're going to sack 41,000 but re-employ one. And I watched – there was an independent assessment of the conduct of former secretary Pezzullo that found that there had been breaches of the Code of Conduct in the APS with his behaviour. And I think people need to be accountable for the way they conduct themselves. Secretaries need to be accountable. The public service and secretaries need to show the highest possible ethical standards.

JOURNALIST: And agency heads who breach the APS Code of Conduct, do you think they should be banned from ever having a similar position in the public service?

GALLAGHER: Well, the Code of Conduct there is there to guide the behaviour of public servants from entry level all the way to secretary. And depending on the breach of the code, you can have breaches where you are essentially reprimanded, where you are demoted, where you lose a classification point, and then the most serious of cases where you lose your job. So, there is a range depending on the nature of the breach of the Code of Conduct. I think they all need to be looked at individually. But Mr Pezzullo had quite a significant number of Code of Conduct breaches as found by an independent assessment, assessed by Lynelle Briggs. And again, I think secretaries need to hold themselves to the highest possible standard. Thank you.

ENDS