Mrs PHILLIPS (Gilmore) (10:00): I'm over the moon today because people in Shoalhaven will soon be able to walk into a brand new, federally funded Medicare urgent care clinic at Nowra. No credit card is required—just their Medicare card.

I promised a second Medicare urgent care clinic for my electorate of Gilmore, and I'm so pleased to announce that, on Tuesday, tenders opened to operate the facility.

People have told me they've waited up to six hours or more to see a doctor at the very busy Shoalhaven hospital emergency department, and I know they are very excited for the Medicare urgent care clinic doors to open in Nowra.

The new clinic will provide fully bulk-billed care for conditions that are urgent but non-life-threatening. It will be open seven days a week for extended hours, with no appointments needed. With many retirees, young families and a population that swells during the holiday periods, a second Medicare urgent care clinic on the South Coast will take pressure off our emergency departments.

It will provide treatment for a range of conditions that need urgent attention but aren't life threatening, like cuts, sprains, viral infections and those weekend sporting injuries that can land us and our kids in the ED for hours. The new clinic will service a huge area in the north of my electorate, including Berry, Bomaderry, Shoalhaven Heads, Jervis Bay and Sussex Inlet.

The Nowra Medicare urgent care clinic will build on the very successful clinic at Batemans Bay that has treated more than 17,000 people since the doors opened in December 2023. I'm so thrilled that the Albanese Labor government will also be extending the opening hours of the Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. Locals and visitors will be able to walk into the clinic from 6 am till midnight, seven days a week.

The Batemans Bay clinic will soon have the longest opening hours of any Medicare urgent care clinic in the country. The community response to the Batemans Bay clinic has been nothing short of incredible, which is why we're extending the opening hours.

Families with young children, injured sports people, holiday-makers and many of our older residents have walked in, received care and gone home without waiting hours at the local hospital and clogging up the ED.

This is all part of our plan to strengthen Medicare, along with cheaper medicines, bulk-billing incentives for medical practices and increases in the number of doctors, nurses and midwives. I'm proud to be part of an Albanese government that is listening to my community and ensuring locals can get the urgent care that they need.