2 weeks Ago By Stephanie Dalzell
The Coalition has accused Labor of "disgraceful" lies about claims a future Dutton government would scrap almost 90 existing urgent care clinics. Labor MPs, including frontbenchers like Pat Conroy, have taken to social media to claim urgent care clinics already established would be shut down if Opposition Leader Peter Dutton wins the next election. A Labor-funded website titled "He cuts, you pay" and an official Australian Labor party advertisement posted to social media also state the opposition would close down urgent care clinics.
Federal election 2025 live: Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on and The Coalition has repeatedly committed to maintaining the existing network while promising to open others. However, it has stopped short of specifically endorsing Labor's $650 pre-election pledge to open 50 new clinics, with Mr Dutton saying there was "no question" the government Labor frontbencher Murray Watt doubled-down on the claims of cuts on Sky News, after being asked if Labor was lying to voters. "Absolutely not," he said.
Murray Watt defended claims the Coalition would cut urgent care clinics. "If you go back to look at what Peter Dutton had to say about our Medicare urgent care clinics, he said that he'd keep a couple of them. "He has to find the money to pay for his $600 billion in nuclear reactors.
"He's got no choice but to cut Medicare and to cut these urgent care clinics. "This guy's got more cuts in store than Freddy Krueger. He's going to cut everything.
" Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie appeared on Sky News shortly afterwards, accusing Murray Watt of "lying to the camera, to your face and your viewers' faces this morning." Bridget McKenzie accused Murray Watt of lying. She was asked by host Andrew Clennell how many clinics would be closed if the Coalition won the looming election.
"I want to be real. Which camera do I look down? This one? That one?" she started, before fixing her gaze firmly down the barrel of the camera. "Zero," she said.
But she declined to reveal the locations of further urgent care clinics, saying "you'll have to wait til Saturday May 3rd to get the full list." Hugely popular with punters, urgent care clinics have been a dominant feature of Labor campaigns in the lead up to this election and the last. Labor is planning to build an extra 50 urgent care clinics around Australia.
Many Australians have never used an Urgent Care Clinic as an alternative to an emergency department, but more are on the way. The clinics are designed to take pressure off emergency departments by treating people with illnesses or injuries that are urgent, but not life threatening. They are usually run by GPs who work alongside nurses and other health care professionals and are open outside of work hours and are also walk-in and bulk-billed, so people do not have to pay out-of-pocket costs.
Labor has been seeking to put health at the centre of its re-election pitch, while trying to force the Coalition to debate on what it views as comfortable turf. Shadow health minister Anne Ruston derided Labor's comments about cuts as lies. "The Coalition is committed to delivering Urgent Care Clinics as they were intended — focused on relieving pressure on local hospitals and providing real access to bulk billed urgent healthcare," she said.
"It is disgraceful that Anthony Albanese is lying to Australians about something as important as their access to healthcare. "Labor is using desperate scare tactics to distract from their failures. "It has never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor — GP bulk billing has dropped 11 per cent under Labor and Australians are now paying the highest out of pocket costs on record.
" Read more about the federal election: Want even more? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended Labor's advertising on Saturday while campaigning in Sydney. "Here's a fact for you: Peter Dutton will cut and Australians will pay," he said. "The last time the Liberal Party came to office was 2013, and before then they said there'd be no cuts to health, no cuts to education.
"It is a fact that the Budget papers show that the 2014 Budget ripped $50 billion out of health and $30 billion out of schools funding." Having trouble seeing this form? Try ..
