1206 2CC Drive with Leon Delaney

LEON DELANEY: The Queanbeyan Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has today opened its doors in Queanbeyan of course. Joining me now the Federal Member for Eden-Monaro and Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Kristy McBain. Good afternoon.

KRISTY MCBAIN: Good afternoon. Liam. What a great day. 

DELANEY: It is a good news story, isn't it? The Medicare Urgent Care Clinics seem to be a success story for the government. And, this is part of a plan to roll out as many as 87 clinics around Australia. Where's the clinic in Queanbeyan, and what does it offer to locals? 

MCBAIN: It’s a really good news story. Urgent Care Clinics are really taking the pressure off emergency departments around the country. We know that in 2022- 23, 70 per cent of presentations to the Queanbeyan emergency department were for non-urgent or semi-urgent matters. Things like cuts and sprains, breaks and viruses. 

The Urgent Care Clinic, which will be open seven days a week, extended hours, will deal with those things. It's located at the Rutledge Street family clinic there. Really excited that it's opened today, and all you need is your Medicare card. 

DELANEY: When you say extended hours, how late is that? 

MCBAIN: We're working with the practise on that. Initially, it'll be eight to eight. We'll see how their numbers go over the next little while. It is really important that people know that it's available. That if something happens, someone cuts themselves or, gets a concussion, a dong on the head or the virus flares up after hours, that they can go there and get treatment from doctors and nurses who are trained to do this. This will take pressure off the emergency department. 

DELANEY: Now, here's the $64,000 question. Are you prepared for an onslaught of refugees from Canberra Health Services and the ACT health system? 430,000 people in the ACT who cannot access a bulk billing GP? We're all just going to flood across the border, aren't we? 

MCBAIN: It’s really important that we've got these Urgent Care Clinics. They're not for you to get a script for something. You go to them if you've got that emergency situation that you need dealt with quickly. Cuts, sprains, breaks , the onset of a virus. That’s what they're there to treat. We want people to still see their GPs and their normal doctors for those routine health matters. This clinic is open to people surrounding Queanbeyan, but also in the ACT, to deal with those, non-urgent, non-life threatening matters that they used to go to the emergency department for. 

DELANEY: Okay. But of course, given the difficulties with people finding a bulk billing practitioner here in the ACT, surely that's a risk that you've taken into account that you might actually get more patients than you can handle? 

MCBAIN: What would happen is that those people would be asked to make an appointment with a GP, because these Urgent Care Clinics are really about those issues that you used to go into an emergency department for. They're not part of your routine doctor's visits that you would normally go to the GP for. 

DELANEY: Okay. Now, of course, here in the ACT we have the nurse led walk in centres instead. And apparently there was some discussion about having general practitioners operate in those centres and more closely align with the model that's provided by the Federal Government's Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. And I know you're on the other side of the border, but are you a little disappointed that wasn't something that was able to be worked out? 

MCBAIN: It’s important to have both nurses and doctors available at any clinic. It is really important that we are getting the best advice. For someone who's had three births, I can tell you that our nurses and our midwives do an extraordinary job, and in most cases, are the people providing the advice to the doctors, for the treatment that you require anyway. Our nurses are absolutely spectacular and do a fantastic job. In 99.9 per cent of cases, they're the people that are providing you with that treatment. 

DELANEY: Well, you know, don't get me wrong, I absolutely have the highest possible regard and respect for nurses, but they're not the same as doctors. 

MCBAIN: That's right. Their qualifications are a little bit different, and it is important that we do have doctors available whenever the nurse tells us that we need to see them, or whenever we can get in to see them. Hop over to Queanbeyan and you'll get that our Urgent Care Clinic at Rutledge Street. 

DELANEY: Yes indeed. But of course, in your capacity as Minister for Territories, maybe you can have a word with some of your counterparts here on this side of the border about trying to iron out those differences, because I think we're missing out here in the ACT. On to other matters, you also announced a little bit of funding this week for the Queanbeyan Archery Club, amongst other local projects. It's only a small amount of funding, but I'm sure it's going to make a big difference to the club. 

MCBAIN: Absolutely. $240,000 to the Queanbeyan Archery Club. We've worked with the Queanbeyan Council to deliver new toilet facilities, a kitchen facility and some storage there. 

This is a club that's been without toilets for over six years. Really pleasing to be there on the weekend with the Mayor, Kenrick Winchester, local councillors and most importantly, the archery club members, and some new participants that just came to try out for the day. They need and deserve the facilities to grow their club, and it was fabulous being with them on Sunday last week to see the difference that facility will make. 

DELANEY: Did you give it a go yourself? 

MCBAIN: I absolutely gave it a go. I did take out the Invitational grand champion. I'm actually not sure that I deserved it, but I got the trophy, and I was very excited about it. 

They do a great job. The instruction was fantastic. I hit the target, on four out of six shots. They did pretty well helping me. 

DELANEY: You've done very well. I tried archery once. It's not as easy as it looks. 

MCBAIN: No, it's definitely not as easy as it looks. When you look at movies like Robin Hood, they make it look very easy to pull out that arrow and shoot in a rather quick and efficient manner. It takes a lot to set up and a lot to make sure that you're, lining up the targets. I appreciate the support that they gave me and the tuition they gave me. 

DELANEY: I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you cannot trust what you see in Hollywood movies. 

MCBIAN: Outrageous, I know. 

DELANEY: Right. On a more serious matter, you had some comments this week about the Federal Opposition's plans for nuclear power. You've said that Peter Dutton has many questions to answer, particularly for people in regional areas where he plans to locate nuclear facilities. 

MCBAIN: That's right. Only this week, the Opposition Leader was out in central Queensland talking about the jobs that nuclear will bring. He's talking about jobs that may exist in two decades time. In the meantime, he's got to answer the questions about how he's going to acquire these seven privately owned sites. How much taxpayer dollars he's going to spend,researching what he needs to put in place, whether it can connect to the grid and how we're going to pay for it. How we're going to run it, because according to the Opposition Leader, the Federal Government will then be running nuclear power stations. There's a lot more questions to answer for Peter Dutton. The least of his concerns should be about the jobs that might be created in two decades time. 

DELANEY: Well, when you say two decades time, the Opposition is suggesting the mid-2030s. That's only one decade. 

MCBAIN: If you look at the experience in the UK or the US, there are no nuclear powerplants that are being built in a time frame of less than two decades. It’s a fantasy to think the Opposition Leader suddenly knows best, when the experience in other countries is substantially different. 

DELANEY: There was a report today from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, indicating that small modular reactors might actually be an option, but they also said that might be at least two decades before they were available. 

MCBAIN: Absolutely, small modular reactors are being talked about by other countries. The fact is, there are no small modular reactors working anywhere in the world. The technology still isn't there. 

If it does come available, it's still decades away. Again, it's more questions than answers from the Opposition in regards to their nuclear policy.

DELANEY: Kristy, thanks very much for your time today. 

MCBAIN: Great to speak with you, Leon.