Press conference with Minister, Adelaide – 6 February 2026

MATT BURNELL, MEMBER FOR SPENCE: My name is Matt Burnell, and it's a great pleasure to be able to welcome the Minister for Health, Mark Butler, to the electorate today.
Healthcare has been at the centre of the Albanese Labor Government's focus since our election to government in 2022, delivering on cheaper medicine, better access to GPs, better all-round healthcare across the country. So, to build on that, today, we have an important announcement, and on that note, I will hand over to the Minister.
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Thank you, Matt. We're joined here by the presidents of the two general practice colleges, RACGP and ACRRM, who will introduce themselves. Thank you, Sian, for hosting us, the chair of the RACGP here in South Australia at the Elizabeth Family Health Practice, which I'll say a couple of words on in a second. And also, two GP registrars, Jamie and Adam, who are going to talk about their experience training in the wonderful field of general practice.

Can I say, first of all, that we're here at Elizabeth Family Health Practice, which is a Medicare bulk billing practice. The number of practices that bulk bill all of their patients all the time in Matt Burnell's electorate of Spence has tripled since 1 November, continuing to drive up that rate of bulk billing and ensure that as many members of Matt's community as possible feel that they can go to the GP when they need to rather than when they can afford to. So I’m very pleased with our early results from our latest bulk boom investments on 1 November.

But driving up bulk billing was not the only pillar of our strengthening Medicare agenda. I’ve said from the outset we wanted more doctors and nurses into the system of primary care. We wanted more bulk billing. We wanted to roll out new models like Urgent Care Clinics to rebuild general practice as the backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system. And today, I'm delighted to announce the latest phase in our ambition to get more doctors, particularly more GPs, into Australia's healthcare system. The two colleges, RACGP and ACRRM, will be training this year, we think, 2100- as an intake, 2100 young GP registrars, starting their career training as the general practitioners of the future. The year I came to this office as Health Minister, back in ‘22, that number was less than 1600. That's a very big increase of more than 500 junior doctors choosing general practice as their preferred career. And I really want to thank the two colleges, who in the early part of my time as Health Minister, took back on responsibility for training the general practitioners of the future, and they are both doing a terrific job at that. RACGP obviously covers the metropolitan field and does some work in country areas as well. ACRRM, as the name suggests, the college of Rural and Remote Medicine, has a particular focus on rural Australia as well as remote Australia. And I'm delighted that of the 2100 trainees we expect to start their GP training this year, half of them will be training in rural and remote parts of our country, making sure that there's a pipeline of GPs for the future for country Australia as well.

Partly, I hope junior doctors are making the decision in greater numbers to become GPs because of our focus together, governments, general practice colleges, and so many others besides, to rebuild general practice, to rebuild its value and the respect that governments have for it as the backbone of our healthcare system. But we also heard a clear message from junior doctors that the salary difference between being a GP registrar and a hospital registrar was a real disincentive for taking on GP training. Even if really junior doctors were interested in general practice as a career, the very significant salary difference was a disincentive. Also, many GP registrars move from practice to practice, so unlike their hospital registrar peers, unable to accrue the leave entitlements that are important for people in that phase of their life, parental leave entitlements, for example, but also some study leave. So, this year will be the first year where GP registrars also receive a salary incentive that we announced in the election campaign last year of $30,000 a year to close that gap, that salary gap between GP registrars and their hospital equivalents, and also access to leave entitlements, including parental leave entitlements as well.

We're definitely going back in - we're going in the right direction here. We need more junior doctors training as GPs to fill that pipeline, to replace retiring GPs into the system, and ensure that primary care retains its place as the crucial backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system.

Just quickly, before I hand to Michael, I'd like to just make a couple of remarks about breaking news around the Healthscope hospitals. People will remember that sometime last year Healthscope, which is the second largest private hospital operator, for-profit private hospital operator in the country, went into receivership. It operates about 36 hospitals across Australia, including four here in South Australia. We went through a very deliberative, sensible process of receivership led by McGrathNicol, supported by government, I know supported by existing management of staff at those hospitals, and I'm delighted to say that this morning, McGrathNicol has announced that 31 remaining hospitals that have not yet found a purchaser have been approved in principle by McGrathNicol to be sold to a not-for-profit operator. There's some further detail to be settled about that, but I'm delighted to say that it appears that all 36 of those hospitals operated by Healthscope will move in an orderly way to our new owner, vast bulk of them being not-for-profit operators. The Northern Beaches hospital in Sydney is going to return to State Government hands, so that it become a public hospital again. But for the 18,000 hardworking staff at Healthscope Hospitals across Australia and for the many, many tens of thousands of people who might have procedures planned at a Healthscope Hospital, this will be a great comfort to them, to understand that their hospital will operate in the future under a reputable operator. And I can say as Health Minister, and I imagine college presidents agree, the prospect of losing such a big private hospital operator in the system was a great concern for all of us. And so, for the sake of the healthcare system as well, I'm delighted that McGrathNicol’s work, along with management of Healthscope, appears to have led to this very positive outcome.

I'll hand over now to Michael.

MICHAEL WRIGHT, RACGP: Thanks, Minister. Thank you, Minister.

And this is fantastic news and a real milestone for Australian general practice training. This new contract with the RACGP is the largest and longest agreement with a specialist medical college, and it's really going to give GP trainees and the college confidence that future of general practice is strong and give us the capacity to grow the GP workforce. I want to thank you, Minister, for your commitment to general practice and for the future of general practice through this initiative and for the number of others that you've just related to that are really making a career in general practice more attractive to the best and brightest medical students. And we're seeing that that's already getting results.

So this week, more than 1700 GP registrars and rural generalists have started their training journey with the RACGP in communities all around Australia. So in our big cities in rural and remote regions and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities. So thank you so much for your commitment and support to general practice. I also want to thank also the supervisors and the registrars who will make them very welcome as this training program takes flight.

ROD MARTIN, COLLEGE OF RURAL MEDICINE, PRESIDENT: Thanks, Michael. I’m Rod Martin, the president of the College of Rural Medicine. It's vitally important that we get good stable funding that certainly the off- the provision of funds that's come from the department enables now shoring up and making sure that rural and remote communities have excellent access to the right trained doctors for their communities. It doesn't come cheaply, and what we always require is as much stability as we can to ensure that we can maintain ongoing training and a good sequence for doctors who are willing to choose the extra challenge of living and working in rural remote areas. And I thank the government for its ongoing and very clear support that's now predictable. So we health plan, you know, over the five years. Thanks.

JAMIE BUDENBERG, SENIOR GP REGISTRAR, RACGP: My name is Dr Jamie Budenberg. I'm a CP senior GP registrar with Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the RACGP. I've almost finished my training now. I've been doing specialist training with the RACGP for three years now. Both in the mid north of South Australia in Jamestown, Orroroo, but also down in Adelaide with an extended special skills in skin cancer medicine. I have felt tremendously supported by uh by the college and the supervision and educational requirements have been fantastic. And this new announcement today is a great example of the Federal Government continuing on that support and uh really you know just it's been fantastic. So thank you.

ADAM OVERWEEL, RURAL GENERALIST REGISTRAR, RACGP: G’day, I'm Dr Adam Overweel, working as a rural generalist registrar in the Riverland region of South Australia. On a practical note, this announcement is really exciting for people in my position. People looking at general practice training now have a job and a contract that they can take to the bank for their future. And I commend the government steps in improving primary care access for all Australians and for me and my area of passion for rural and remote Australians. So thank you very much, and I'd like to thank the college's work in supporting this. Thank you.

BUTLER: Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: A billion dollars, granted, over five years – is that enough?

BUTLER: I imagine the college presidents would say it's never enough. This is a very big increase in support, but also we thought it was important is, I think you heard from Michael and Rod, to secure a five-year agreement to give the colleges the certainty and the registrars the certainty that they could, in the college's case, set up these training arrangements for the long term and in the case of registrars ensure they had a secure position for a number of years.

So, as I said, there's a big increase. When I came to the job as Health Minister, there were less than 1600 trainees training as GPs or rural generalists. It's now going to be 2100 this year. That's the biggest number of junior doctors training in general practice ever in Australia. Last year was a record. I think the year before that was a record. But every year so far, we've been able to break that record. So, I know talking to the colleges, there's an appetite to do more. And what's really amazing is it's not just the college appetite, it's an appetite among junior doctors to take on this career path as well.

So, we'll continue to monitor this. I've said really clearly, as Health Minister, I have no more important priority, no higher priority than rebuilding general practice. It is the backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system. And for that to continue, you need a pipeline of terrific young GPs coming into the system like Jamie and Adam.

JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about GPs trained in regional and remote areas then just eventually migrating into metro areas once they're done?

BUTLER: I might hand to Rod talk about that.

MARTIN: The good news on that is we certainly from the data that we have from our training program from selection through to retention we're still running at about 83 to 85 per cent. And these are not just people doing primary care. They're doing emergency medicine and anaesthetics and surgery and obstetrics in those rural remote areas where they train in the first place. So that trickle back to metropolitan areas may well happen 10 to 15 years down the track as life conditions change – you know, kids going back to school. But certainly the data that we've got at the moment from our own cohorts is that that we're always running at about that 80 per cent retention well down the track. And those people are not just providing primary care skills, they're also providing all the additional skills that the rural generalist trainees will be able to provide.

JOURNALIST: Any specific action you'd like to see taken to, I guess, slow down that trickle back that you mentioned?

MARTIN: Look, anytime you can make sure that people are well supported, not just the doctors but their families as well. It's a unit that keeps a doctor in town. We only half-jokingly talk about mortgages and schools, but making sure there's good support across the board for families as well and that the ability to continue to support doctors financially as well matches the additional costs and time burdens that it takes, focusing back down on the on the rural generalists that are living and working in those areas.

JOURNALIST: Great. I've got some questions on other matters if that's okay?

BUTLER: Yes. 

JOURNALIST: Just from Canberra and others so I’ll just read them. Aboriginal rights leader Pat Anderson has accused Australia's political leaders of falling silent in the face of racism after the terrorist attack in Perth on Australia Day. Was the government slow to respond?

BUTLER: I know Pat Anderson very well. I've known her for probably 20 years and have the highest respect for her contribution to our country as a leader. The Prime Minister addressed this question in the parliament yesterday though, and I think the important thing to bear in mind is the time it takes for the policing authorities to investigate a case like what happened on Australia Day in Perth to determine whether or not the key elements of a charge of terrorism are there to be proven. And in particular, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs yesterday mentioned the importance of being able to establish motivation. It does take some time. The Home Affairs Minister made the point I think though that the joint counterterrorism task force between the WA police, the Federal Police and ASIO was set up, I think from memory, within 40 minutes of the attack taking place.

We all know how terrifying this attack was, particularly for First Nations Australians at the protest in Perth, but for First Nations Australians around the country, this is a targeted racist attack that will be alleged to have been terrorist in nature. But our government leaders in WA and the Commonwealth take this incredibly seriously, but we wanted to make sure that the authorities were able to conduct the proper investigations to ground a charge of terrorism, which what the Western Australian Commissioner and AFP Commissioner announced yesterday morning.

JOURNALIST: In a time when the government is calling for social cohesion, do ministers like yourself have a responsibility to call out incidents like what happened in Perth quickly?

BUTLER: Of course we have a responsibility, not just ministers, I'm sure Matt feels this as a backbench member of the government as well. As public leaders, we have a deep responsibility to call out hatred. All of us want to live as far as possible in a cohesive society, recognising that we share this country with the oldest continuously surviving culture on the face of the planet, First Nations Australians, but also are a deeply multicultural country. That's that makes us such a rich and interesting country.

But it means that we have to be careful to ensure social cohesion. But public leaders must do that, must voice those views in a way that does not interfere with the investigations by policing authorities. And that's what was important here.

JOURNALIST: Onto a different matter. Australia saw an increase in the number of people with whooping cough in 2024-25. What are exports- what are experts putting this down to?

BUTLER: This is where I might rely upon some of my medical colleagues. My advice is that whooping cough is an illness that will, generally, ebb and flow with about a six year cycle, and it had been some years since there had been large numbers of whooping cough. So in ‘24 and, to a slightly lesser degree, of ‘25 we saw another whooping cough bounce if you like, but it was a very big bounce - we saw a huge number of cases. And it appears even early in 2026 we're still seeing quite significant numbers of cases.

I know this is something that health ministers have been focused on. We want to see two things. First thing we want to see is as many pregnant mums take advantage of the free whooping vaccination in their third trimester as possible. That's good for your protection, but it's also good for protecting your newborn baby in those first several weeks of their life before they get their first whooping cough jab at the age of two months. So, that is important.

But we are also seeing childhood immunisation rates slip right across the immunisation system. This is not particular to Australia, we're seeing that right across the world - the World Health Organization is talking about it. We've seen reports of measles cases this morning and this week in Adelaide as well. So overall, I just send a message to parents that keeping your child immunised is another way of keeping them safe.

Whooping cough can be very, very dangerous, particularly for young babies. RSV can be very, very dangerous, particularly for young babies. Which is why we've put as much effort as we have into making available a free maternal RSV vaccine. But for mums also to take in their third trimester - keeping them safe, but also keeping their newborns safe. 

MARTIN: I think you've added it really well, Minister. I mean, I think the safest thing we can all do is make sure we're immunised, particularly against whooping cough - really dangerous for young children. And pregnant mums, this free vaccine is really important. And for other people who aren't eligible for a free vaccine, there is still a vaccine available privately. So, particularly if you're around young children, another reason to get yourself vaccinated.

JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about this this data?

WRIGHT: Well, we're very concerned that the number of the vaccination rates have been dropping. And there is really concern that people aren't as confident in getting vaccines as they used to be. And so it's something that, as a community but also as individual health professionals, we're really taking it seriously to try and encourage our patients to get on board and get vaccinated.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. I’ll go back to the minister, okay? Are you concerned that the anti-vaccine movement pushed by some within the Trump administration is having an influence here?

BUTLER:  We know worldwide there has been a slight uptick in, or a material uptick, in vaccine hesitancy, particularly through COVID and after COVID. And that's something that governments right across the world are battling. We're thinking very carefully about our childhood immunisation campaigns - to make sure that the messages are fresh and compelling for parents. We're also thinking very carefully about the nature of the immunisation campaign, the information campaign, to encourage older Australians to get their vaccines up to date as well.

You know, the COVID vaccination rates for over 65’s and over 75’s were quite alarmingly low last year - only about 25 per cent for 65 to 74 year olds, 35 per cent for over 75’s. This is still a very, very serious illness for vulnerable older Australians. Flu vax were down last year as well, from 68 per cent to 61 per cent for over 65. So this is not just an issue for parents thinking about immunising their young children and babies. This is a challenge we have right across the population.

And I just reiterate our message, one that's been supported very, very strongly by medical groups - immunisation is the best way to keep yourself safe if you are a part of a vulnerable population to a condition like COVID or the flu. And for our little ones, that childhood immunisation program has been an extraordinary success in keeping babies safe from some very, very serious illness like measles, like whooping cough, and very recently like RSV as well.

JOURNALIST: Just back over the Productivity Commission health stats again. There's been a record number of whooping cough cases recorded since 1991 and a record low child vaccination rates as well. Do you see a correlation there?

BUTLER:  I'm not really qualified to say whether there is a direct correlation. As I as I said, whooping cough tends to come every five or six years or so in big numbers. There's no question that the 2024 surge was bigger than the previous surge. Obviously that tempo or that rhythm was interrupted a bit by COVID, given that people weren't interacting through those years. But you know, we do use this opportunity just to reinforce that message.

Unfortunately, we don’t have great statistics about the number of pregnant mums taking up the whooping cough vaccine. As a result of that, I have made some changes to the immunisation registry so that when, for example, GP’s give a vaccine to a pregnant mum - a whooping cough vaccine or the RSV vaccine - that is marked on the immunisation register and we're going to be able to track those data much more accurately and in real time. Some of the data we have at the moment is several years old, but even those data show that there is quite a substantial drop in the number of pregnant mums, for example, taking up the whooping cough vaccine by 10 per cent or so.

This is a very big concern. I'm not going to say whether or not those vaccination rates have driven the size of the bump that we've seen in ‘24 and ‘25. But really, whether it has or not doesn't change the fact that we have a big challenge ahead of us.

JOURNALIST: You've touched on getting a greater uptake of vaccinations. They're already free under the National Immunisation Program for most infants, adolescents and pregnant women. Should whooping cough vaccines be made free for older Australians as well, such as grandparents who are taking care of babies?

BUTLER:  The only way a vaccine can be put onto the National Immunisation Program and therefore made free of charge, or available free of charge, is for me to receive advice to that effect from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. They haven't made that advice to me. If they were, of course, we would follow it. We make a number of changes pretty regularly to the National Immunization Program as well as to the PBS based on the ongoing work that PBAC does in the area of vaccinations and in the area of medicines. That's a matter for those experts, not for me. I know they're constantly reviewing the clinical evidence about the efficacy of vaccines among different vulnerable patient cohorts.

JOURNALIST: Sorry, do you mind if I put the question about the correlation to the - just regarding it, are you concerned about any correlation between vaccine rate and the whooping cough?

WRIGHT: I think we're generally concerned about the reduction in the vaccine rates and that, potentially, having some impact but- and that's what we've got to deal with, is getting as many patients as possible to get immunised against whooping cough so that they're protected, and then to try and slow down transmission that way.

JOURNALIST: What about that scepticism you might see in the US? Do you think that's coming here?

WRIGHT: I think that's something that we deal with in general practice every day. You know, we have patients who come in who aren't quite sure. And I really encourage them to come in - come and talk to your GP. We can show you what the real evidence is and the value of vaccines - their effectiveness, their safety and how they have changed and reduced death rates in such a great way, particularly for kids, and continue to have a positive impact.

JOURNALIST: Having seen that it’s been has been an ongoing issue, but specifically, like, seeing what's happening overseas, do you think that is happening here?

WRIGHT: I think, you know, there's a lot of information that comes on social media, there's a lot of international information as well. And it's really important that, as GP’s, we can help people work through that to understand what's relevant, what's real, and encourage them to continue with their vaccinations.