Senator Nita Green: It's fantastic to be here in Townsville and it's great to be back at the Urgent Care Clinic in Thuringowa. I was lucky enough to open this Urgent Care Clinic a few years ago, and it's great to see that it's gone from strength to strength. We know that this Urgent Care Clinic is making a real difference to people here in Townsville, and particularly a real difference to the emergency department of the hospital. That's because over 35,000 people have visited this Urgent Care Clinic. That's 35,000 people that have been able to get urgent care that they need when they need it the most for free. We're really proud of the numbers and the team here, and it's great that I've been able to be joined by Tessa from Bupa, Natasha, the Practice Manager, who will talk a little bit about what this center has been able to deliver. But the reason that I'm here today is because we will deliver our next budget in just under a week's time. And it'll be important budget for North Queensland and an important budget for the country. We know right now people are under pressure and the conflict in the Middle East is making that pressure worse. This will be a budget that responds to those pressures and ensures that we have responsible, sensible economic management. But part of that for our government has always been strengthening Medicare. And just over a year ago, after we won the last election, we committed to deliver more Urgent Care Clinics across the country. Now, on the eve of the budget, I'm pleased to announce that we will make this Urgent Care Clinic and all of the Urgent Care Clinics across the country permanent. On Tuesday night, when the Treasurer delivers the budget, the budget will contain $1.8 billion to ensure that Urgent Care Clinics like this one will be permanent. They will stay open and they will remain free. This is something that our government is committed to, strengthening Medicare, relieving costs of living pressures on families here in North Queensland. That's why we've delivered an Urgent Care Clinic. It's why we've delivered a Medicare Mental Health Clinic in Townsville. We've also delivered more bulk billing with seven new practices in Townsville alone coming online as fully bulk billing practices. And I'm pleased to say that people here in Townsville have saved over $16 million through cheaper medicines. This is part of our government's response to the cost of living crisis that we know is putting pressure on families here, but it's also our government's commitment to the Medicare system. Labor built Medicare and now we're strengthening it. And now we're making urgent care clinics permanent. Happy to take any questions.
Journalist: So is this the only Urgent Care Clinic in town at the moment, are there any plans to add another one in the area or where are they in this area of North Queensland?
Green: Yeah, great question. This was one of the very first Urgent Care Clinics, and we rolled them out as a pilot scheme to begin with. And the great news story is that this Urgent Care Clinic has shown that we were, and we should have, opened more around the country. And we've gone on to do that. And only recently I opened the next two Urgent Care Clinics for North Queensland, one in Cairns, and then the first one ever in Mackay. That has been very busy. That is also run by the BUPA team, and we know that that's been a huge success. So our priority has been to make sure that every single regional town in North Queensland has an Urgent Care Clinic. We make sure that they are teamed up in catchments where there are hospitals because the idea of an Urgent Care Clinic is really to fill that gap and take pressure off hospitals. So that's been our focus. Of course, it's been a really successful program. We're always open to the idea of more locations, but for the moment we think we've got the balance right.
Journalist: You mentioned that kind of relieving from the hospital, things that aren't life-threatening or as urgent can come here. Have you kind of heard, I guess, from hospitals as well, that they're seeing that those kind of things that can be treated elsewhere are being dealt with and they're kind of freeing up space or it's allowing them for extra time to deal with more life-threatening incidents as well?
Green: We've had a lot of support from the health community here in Townsville and across Queensland for these clinics because they're doing exactly that. Taking pressure off emergency departments and taking pressure off a system that was really under stress before we managed to strengthen Medicare. Now, it's really important to understand that before these clinics were open in 2023, around 35% of presentations to the university hospital here were non-life-threatening, non-urgent matters. We've managed to reduce that amount, and we know that there will always be fluctuations in these numbers, but for the most part, we're playing an important role here. That is exactly why we've made the decision to make these clinics permanent. It's why we're making this investment in the budget. Under all the pressures that the budget will be under, we will not compromise on Medicare and we will not compromise on healthcare that North Queenslanders need.
Journalist: As well as too with opening these Urgent Care Clinics, how important has it been letting the community know that these clinics are available and what they're available for? Do you think the community is aware that they can come here and sort of present at the hospital as well?
Green: Absolutely. Because we work very closely with GPs in the region and the team here can talk a little bit about this, but there's a really big education piece that we undertook when we opened the clinic with GPs and with the emergency department to communicate with people about where to go. Now, this is a clinic that's open extended hours and on the weekends. And the most presentations we actually see are from children under 15, because we know that when your kid is sick or they've broken a bone, you can't really wait to get to a GP on Monday, but you might not be able to get into the ED urgently as well. That's the cohort that we have seen come through this clinic. There's an average of around 280 patients every week, and those people are the people that we are hoping won't go to the emergency department. Of course, it's always important to communicate with each other about which service is best for you. And if you come to the Urgent Care Clinic and you do need urgent care, then we'll send you to the ED.
Journalist: Unrelated question from Maroochydore. Why is federal Labor scrapping Inland Rail to Queensland? [inaudible] Why the lack of transparency?
Green: Yeah, thank you very much for the question. Look, when we came to government, Inland Rail was an absolute mess. And we've worked very hard to review the project, to work in consultation with stakeholders, and to understand exactly what is viable under this current project. We conducted a review, and the findings of that review showed that costs had blown out. They'd increased by almost 50%. Now the estimation is that this project is going to cost taxpayers over $43 billion and won't be completed until 2036 at the current trajectory. So what we've done is we've considered the pathway to make sure that we can connect Melbourne to Parkes, and that part of the project will continue. We will continue to work to make sure that the railway corridor from Parkes to Brisbane is maintained through the planning process, but we will make sure that these extra funds that we will save will be going straight into the rail corridors. We know in North Queensland, when our railroads go underwater, it makes it incredibly hard to get supplies here in parts of North Queensland and Far North Queensland. This funding that we will be saving and redirecting from the inland rail project will go to floodproof the railway corridors that are so important for the supply to our country. This is what happens with a project when the Liberals and Nationals make decisions by press releases, but without any planning and no funding to back up their promises. We've seen it time and time again, and our government has worked incredibly hard to understand what the real costs of these projects are. And based on that, we've made this very important decision to redirect these funds to rail corridors that need that maintenance now.
Journalist: Just in terms of the budget as well coming up. I think obviously with the fuel conversation at the moment, are there any more things that will be implemented from the federal government for the fuel prices currently? I know the Premier came out and said the Queensland storage plan for Queensland fuel. What's coming up, I guess, from a federal government perspective on fuel at the moment?
Green: Yeah, thank you. Well, just on fuel, I might just say we have been working incredibly hard since this conflict began to ensure that we maintain fuel supply here in Australia. We want to keep our community and our country moving, and that's exactly what we've been doing, making sure that shipments from Asia have been prioritised through to Australia, and that we're getting those shipments out into regional areas. That has been our focus on the short term to make sure that people can continue to move around the country. When it comes to future decisions about resilience and supply, these are things that will be considered in the budget. We welcome any ideas or any opportunities to make Australia more fuel resilient, and the budget will address that. But can I just say, our government made sure that there were more fuel supplies here in Australia when we faced this crisis than when we came into government. That has been an incredibly important contribution from our government. Under the previous government, these supplies were kept offshore in Texas, and that is not good enough. So we took about a program of increasing fuel supplies here, and it means that we've been able to take the action that we've taken to keep Australia moving.
Journalist: Bob Katter has put a bid into government ahead of the budget to consider an ethanol mandate. Is that something that the federal government would consider?
Green: I think this crisis has shown us that biofuels are an important part of our future fuel resilience. And I've been working with the sugar industry for a very long time on what that biofuel industry might look like. Our government has contributed a billion dollars to biofuels through our NRF funding to make sure that we can invest in that industry and grow the industry. There's a few different types of mandates that could be considered, and of course the state government will have a role to play when it comes to petrol. Our government is looking at opportunities around sustainable aviation fuel and investment in projects like Jet Zero, right here in Townsville. I had an opportunity to go out and visit the Jet Zero site. It's incredibly exciting what might be able to be achieved with investment that our government has made, and we'll continue to do things like that. When it comes to mandates, that's something that will be considered in the future, but of course the state government will have to make a decision about that.
Journalist: Can you tell me a bit about your role here and how you've seen the center grow over the last couple of years as well.
Natasha Noone, Practice Manager Townsville Medicare Urgent Care Clinic: Well, I actually started as the admin at front desk. We had just opened maybe six months and I just got myself the job. And when I first started, it was already busy and over the years as I progressed into the PM role, it's definitely expanded. So I believe the first half of 2025, we were at about 243 patients on an average, and then it bumped up to the second half to 265, and now the first half of 2026 is up to 285. So definitely increasing.
Journalist: Can you tell me a bit about some of the things that people are coming in for?
Noone: I think on average, a lot of our top patients that come in, they present with coryzal symptoms, so cold and flu symptoms. We have a lot of fractures in to access the x-ray services at our center. That's multiplied. We have a lot of children presenting with a lot of cold and flu symptoms. We've got UTIs, so we've got a whole lot, but on an average, we see a lot of coryzal symptoms, which sometimes can turn into lots of chest infections. So we are the first one to contract to catch them up early, and then if they need to go up to the hospital or GPs, then we direct them properly.
Journalist: How many people do you have here as part of the team at the clinic?
Noone: I probably say we would have, I'd say roughly about 20. So that consists of nurses, doctors, radiographers. Yeah. Admin, myself included.
Journalist: How do you think this has helped? Obviously in this area here and in all of Townsville as well, having the place for the community to go and as well as freeing up space at the hospital too?
Noone: Yeah, I think it's great. We're 10 minutes max from the hospital. We've got the ambulance bay right there. We've got the police station right there. We're very central because we've got during business hours, Monday to Friday and Saturday, we've got the x-ray service just five or ten minutes down the road. So we are very central. So it actually helps a lot of us if we're unable to help the patient straight away in terms of x-ray. Our lovely doctors send them off to get the extra services done and they come back with the film and are read and we're given the diagnosis. So it's trying to close the loop.
Journalist: How does it feel as well knowing that this will be a permanent spot as well?
Noone: It's fantastic. Yeah. It's really, really good for our patients that need urgent care that they come in and they're able to be seen within a certain amount of time. They don't have to worry about waiting to see their GP in a week's time or worry about going to the hospital and waiting for seven hours when they know they can come here if they get sick.
Journalist: So can you tell me a bit about Bupa's role in these urgent clinics across the board as well?
Tessa Tierney, GM Commercial Bupa Medical: Sure. Bupa is really proud to partner with the government to deliver the urgent care clinics, particularly in Far North Queensland. We do have the two clinics, both Townsville and Mackay. Mackay recently opened and it's proven to be a huge success for that particular location, but here in Townsville we've now become part of the, I guess, access for the community in terms of healthcare. So we're really proud of the government on extending the funding and making this more of a permanent venture.
Journalist: Obviously, at the moment times are tough for a lot of people. What are you kind of hearing in terms of healthcare and these kind of places helping ease that burden of stress of people when it comes to healthcare as well?
Tierney: Absolutely. Times are tough and people are finding it difficult to find money to look after themselves. The Urgent Care Clinics provide that gap for people who perhaps need to see someone more urgently than their GP, they can't wait for a couple of days and they don't want to or can't attend the hospital. So the presentations here are increasing year on year. I think we're increased by about 11%, which is really exciting. And as Natasha was telling me last Sunday, I think we triaged 92 patients through the clinic, which is huge. So we're obviously contributing to reducing that impact on the ED system and we're providing a part in the cycle of care for patients in Townsville.
Journalist: I think as well with this perspective, especially North Queensland, what is the current feeling towards ... As I mentioned, times are tough, health can sometimes fall on the back burner. I think have you seen, what's the current feeling of people in terms of access to healthcare and feeling secure in their healthcare needs as well?
Tierney: Look, I think the Urgent Care Clinics provide that gap for people. So if they are feeling as though they can't access care, it is an option for them. We're certainly seeing our presentational practices continue to be strong. We're finding that people are attending their health needs, perhaps not as quickly, or maybe they delay a little bit here and there, but certainly they are attending and that's the important thing. We are still contributing to great health outcomes for people and making sure the accessibility exists for them, particularly in places like Townsville. And we know that this urgent care clinic is much needed to support the community itself.
Green: Can I add something to the question about just availability, expand on it from before? But in terms of access to free medical care under Medicare, it's an incredibly important part of our government's commitment to strengthening Medicare. And in November last year, we brought in our bulk billing incentive scheme, and this was a scheme designed to encourage GP practices to become fully bulk billing. So we know a lot of people will access a GP, so they might have to pay a gap payment. When you're bulk billed, your appointment is free, and we extended that out to include all patients and to incentivise GPs to become a fully bulk billing practice. Before that program started here in Townsville, there were 13 fully bulk billing practices. There are now 20, and so people have an opportunity to shop around and make sure that they can access a bulk billing GP clinic. The urgent care clinic plays a role in filling the gap between the ED and a GP, but we still encourage people to develop relationships with their local GP and not put off appointments for chronic conditions because they do become worse, and it actually means that you'll end up in a worse condition later on. So having that regular appointment and relationship with your GP is incredibly important and incentivising GPs to go fully bulk billed means that more people are going to be able to see a GP for free.