Minister says urgent care clinics better for hospitals, patients
The federal government has pledged to open 50 more such clinics if elected, at a cost of $644 million.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Health Minister Mark Butler says urgent care clinics are taking the pressure off emergency departments and hospitals, after the federal government pledged to open 50 more.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said the Labor government would spend $644 million to open the clinics if elected, in the 2025-2026 financial year.
Once the extra 50 are opened, Albanese said it would mean most Australians would be within a 20 minutes of a clinic.
READ MORE: Millions to swelter through early autumn heatwave
"By the time the whole network is up and running, two million patients will go through these clinics every year," Butler told Today.
"The vast bulk of them would otherwise have ended up waiting hours and hours at crowded hospital emergency departments."
He claimed that already the in-progress network was seeing hospital presentations for non-urgent and semi-urgent issues "flatline".
"In those hospital areas where there is an urgent care clinic, you're actually seeing those presentations start to drop so that hospital staff there, that doctors and nurses, are able to concentrate on the more life-threatening emergencies, which is what hospitals are built for," he said.
"It is taking pressure off hospitals, but importantly, it's also providing a much better service to patients, including parents who are taking their kids under the age of 15, in very big numbers.
"They're injured on Saturday afternoon, they fall off the skateboard and they get a quick, high-quality service, completely free of charge, instead of spending all Saturday afternoon and evening at the hospital emergency department."
He said the government had received "terrific" feedback about the clinics, from patients and doctors both.
It's the second healthcare pledge in two weeks, as the Coalition pitch instead on defence and national security.
"Whether your family needs urgent or ongoing health care, under Labor, Medicare will be there for all Australians, in every community," Albanese said.
"Four in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, once all Labor's clinics are open."
There will be 14 clinics opened in NSW, 12 in Victoria, 10 in Queensland, six in Western Australia, three in South Australia, three in Tasmania, one in the Northern Territory and one in the ACT.
READ MORE: Inside the 139 minutes that upended the US-Ukraine alliance
The federal government said it decided on locations based on an independent commissioning process.
Labor has already opened 87 Medicare urgent care clinics, Albanese said.
They provide bulk-billed care for urgent but non-life threatening issues with extended hours every day of the week, no appointment necessary.
Labor also promised free doctor visits for most Australians by 2030 as part of its multi-billion dollar Medicare vow.
READ MORE: Homes shudder, sound of 'explosion' as earthquake rocks Aussie state
Albanese, who turned 62 today, said Labor will spend $8.5 billion across four years to commit to universal bulk-billing, which would make nine out of 10 GP visits free.
The PM estimated this would increase the number of 100 per cent bulk-billed practices to 4800 and save patients $859 million every year by 2030.
This proposal would mark the single biggest investment in Medicare since it was created in 1984.
Currently about 80 per cent of GPs do not accept bulk-billing for generic appointments.
The federal opposition pledged to spend at least $3 billion to buy an extra 28 Joint Strike Fighter jets.
"We're going to invest in defence, and we're going to rebuild the Defence Force, which has been run down under Labor," Shadow Health Minister Andrew Hastie told Sky News' Morning Agenda.
A flotilla of Chinese warships circumnavigating Australia has put defence capabilities in the political crosshairs.
Beijing gave Papua New Guinea notice of their presence, but not Australia.
"We need to demonstrate our own strength and our own resilience in this relationship in order to make it the mutually respectful relationship we want it to be," Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson told Sky News.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
