Albanese is asked about scare campaigns and says:

I am proud of our achievements and part of that is strengthening Medicare, not just what we have done but what we will do. We promised 50 urgent care clinics. We have delivered 87. We will deliver another 50. The 1800 Medicare promised we made yesterday stands in stark contrast. There were two rally yesterday – or three if you count in McKellar. Ours in Parramatta had a key policy component at its heart that will make a difference to peoples’ lives. Enabling people to have 24 hour access to health advice, which would then be connected up potentially with a doctor or, if it’s the case that people should then go to hospital, then that would occur.

Making a difference for families if a young child overnight has a fever, they are not sure how to respond, knowing that there is a phone that they can pick up, ring that number and get advice, or people with an elderly relative who goes “No, I am OK” because that is what a lot of people do who are resilient…

Q: It is insulting to Australians, isn’t it?

Albanese:

No, let’s be clear. There is a choice between our positive agenda, Peter Dutton yesterday – his rally – there were no policy announcements, nothing positive going forward and he went to Channel Seven last night and belled the cat.

He went and said he needed to abolish bulk billing to make primary care sustainable.

He belled the cat last night. He can’t say where his $600 billion for the nuclear plan is coming from. There will be cuts. We know that is what happened last time. He was voted the worst Health Minister in history by doctors. He did try to introduce an abolition of bulk billing. He tried to introduce a payment every time people visited an emergency department. He did freeze the Medicare rebate for six years. He has said repeatedly that people don’t value Medicare if it’s free. Things that are free, that is why they are against free TAFE and against all these measures.

There is a real choice and Australians when they vote, whether it is today, tomorrow or right up to Saturday, know that they put a number 1 next to their Labor candidate, their candidate will defend and strengthen Medicare, not the least of which is the doctor and pharmacist behind me and they know that they also said they oppose the 60-day dispensing to give Emma a crack here as well. They said that would be disastrous and pharmacies would close. Where are the pharmacies that closed as a result of that reform? That has made a difference to peoples’ lives. There is a choice and it is important that not only have I put forward a positive coherent agenda, we have also put forward legitimately a critique of the other side.