Albanese unveils first aid plan to heal gaffe

Anthony Albanese will use a major health policy rolling out 50 emergency clinics to regain control of his election campaign.

Anthony Albanese visits Longford Medical Centre in Longford, Tasmania on day two of the federal election campaign. Picture: Toby Zerna

Anthony Albanese will use a major health policy rolling out 50 emergency clinics across the country to regain control of his election campaign after coming under attack from Scott Morrison over his economic gaffe.

The Opposition Leader’s $135m pledge to ease pressures on public hospitals has been brought forward to help Labor get back on message and to restore momentum following the first-day slip-up.

The Prime Minister will shift the Coalition’s focus to economic security on Wednesday, announcing $250m upgrades of the ­nation’s two fuel refineries in Brisbane and Geelong.

As Mr Albanese wasted another day defending his economic credentials after wrongly guessing the unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent, Mr Morrison raised concerns that the Labor leader was so far off the 4 per cent unemployment rate. “If he said 4.3 or 4.2 or 3.8 or something like that, yeah, it was a memory slip. But what this showed was is he had no idea what has happened with Australia’s economic recovery,” he said.

“His working assumptions about our economy and what Australians are achieving in our economy, he doesn’t know and he doesn’t understand.”

Attempting to shift the campaign back to policy, Mr Albanese on Wednesday will announce funding for 50 Medicare urgent care clinics based in GP surgeries and community health centres.

After South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas’s success running on health policy, Mr Albanese said Labor’s clinics would mean “more families get top quality care from a nurse or a doctor without having to wait in a hospital emergency department”.

The healthcare package, which is structured differently to Kevin Rudd’s stand-alone GP super clinics, will provide bulk billing ser­vices seven days a week.

Speaking in the Labor-held Tasmanian seat of Lyons on Tuesday before heading to Melbourne, Mr Albanese quoted US pop star Taylor Swift in response to his first-day clanger, saying he wanted to “shake it off … I fessed up (and) took responsibility.

“From time to time, if I ever make a mistake, I will own it and I will accept responsibility,” he said.

“I made a

mistake. I owned it. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

Mr Albanese’s election policy – one of Labor’s biggest health ­announcements in three years – will cut hours off waiting times and ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.

The Medicare urgent care clinics, open 8am to 10pm, will be available to Australians with sprains and broken bones, wound care, minor burns, ear and eye problems, insect bites, stitches and glue for cuts.

In New Zealand, the clinics have helped deliver the lowest rate of emergency department ­attendance per capita in the ­developed world.

Mr Albanese said the clinics were a “key part of Labor’s plan to strengthen Medicare by making it easier to see a doctor”.

“Medicare urgent care clinics will take the pressure off emergency departments so they can concentrate on saving lives,” he said.

Mr Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor on Wednesday will dust off a 2021 budget pledge to provide two grants ­totalling $250m to upgrade the Ampol refinery at Lytton and Viva Energy refinery in Geelong.

Promoting his credentials to lead the country amid unprecedented global strategic and economic upheaval, Mr Morrison said “Covid-19, the Russian war in Ukraine and trade restrictions have disrupted global supply chains and Australia is not ­immune”.

“Oil refineries literally fuel a stronger economy and these ­investments will help keep our truckies, miners, defence force and farmers moving across ­Australia,” he said.

“Our plan for a stronger future locks in Australia’s refining capabilities and will ensure upgrades are made to improve the quality of our fuel.”

He said the refinery upgrades, creating 500 construction jobs and protecting a combined workforce of 1250, would help lock in fuel supply.

“Cutting the fuel tax and this fuel security package put Australian motorists and businesses first,” he said.