Labor makes free telehealth promise in final week of campaign
Hundreds of thousands of Australians could avoid the emergency department under one of Labor’s last health promises of the election campaign.
Australians could soon access free, expert health advice at all hours of the day, as Labor champions Medicare in one of its final campaign pushes.
If his party is re-elected, Prime MinisterAnthonyAlbanesewill commit $204.5 million to launch 1800MEDICARE, a 24/7 nation-wide health advice and after-hours GP telehealth service backed by Medicare.
From January 1, Australians who call the number will be connected to a registered nurse who can provide advice or refer them to another health service.
Anyone who needs urgent GP care for something like an emergency prescription or treatment for a short-term illness or injury, can be connected to a free telehealth consultation with a GP between 6pm and 8am.
This could prevent an estimated 250,000 Australians from making an unnecessary trip to an emergency department per year, which Albanese said would take pressure off people and public hospitals.
-AAP
PeterDuttonwill launch a last-minute blitz of seats in his final week of the campaign, targeting marginal electorates across the country but snubbing the nation’s capital.
The opposition leader has dipped further in the polls but is attempting to target 28 seats in just six days as part of the Coalition’s last-ditch but “high energy” attempt to win a majority government.
Dutton will start Sunday at a rally in west Melbourne ahead of the final leaders’ debate withAnthony Albanesein Sydney tonight.
Seats visited in the final push include Hawke, Aston, Dunkley, Gorton, Goldstein and Kooyong in Melbourne while Bennelong and Mackellar in Sydney, and Moreton in Brisbane, will get a stop.
Darwin will get another visit, according to current plans, with Dutton planning to make another pitstop in Solomon.
In the regions, swinging seats north of Sydney - Paterson and Dobell - will get attention while Perth’s Bullwinkel and Adelaide’s Boothby are on the radar.
Blitz is an accurate description to go by if the last week is an example. The past week of Dutton’s travels could easily be characterised as fast-paced with those in the travelling media pack visiting every state and territory apart from the ACT.
Of course, the nation’s capital is where Dutton is pledging to slash 41,000 of around 69,000 public service jobs - or almost 10% of the territory’s total population or about 15% of the working population.
Welcome to another Sunday Guardian live blog.
As the final week of the federal election campaign begins, the prime minister,AnthonyAlbanese, has announced a re-elected Labor government would launch a free nation-wide health and after-hours GP telehealth service. The $204.5m pledge would see Australians able to call the service to speak to a registered nurse who could provide advice when a GP is unavailable.
The opposition leaderPeterDuttonis kicking off his Sunday with a rally in west Melbourne ahead of the final leaders’ debate in tonight. The Coalition leader has been keen to show off his softer side after bringing his son Harry on the campaign trail as he criss-crosses the country in the lead up to voting day. Dutton told News Corp Australia on Sunday that he does have a “softer side” and “I am an emotional person”.
I’mRoyce Kurmelovsand I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...