Press conference with Minister Butler, Sydney – 20 October 2026

SALLY SITOU, MEMBER FOR REID: I am devastated to hear about what’s happened to Helen Haines. She was the very best person that I had the privilege of meeting in our Parliament, she is warm and generous, and so hard working for the local community, but for all of us. And I wish her a speedy recovery, and I’m thinking of her family and her community at this time.
 
This is really devastating for all of us to see, and one of the best things about Australia’s democracy is that our Parliamentarians are here for everyone, to serve our community. And when I was out doorknocking recently, I met someone who was surprised that I was walking on the street on my own, because they said in the country where they were from, Parliamentarians were walking around with armed guards. And that’s not something that we want for our country, because our politicians want to be accessible, out doorknocking and speaking to their local constituents. And that’s something that we will always want to protect. But today is about Helen, making sure that we wish her a speedy recovery, and all of our thoughts are with her. Our goal as a government is to make sure that we are serving communities, making sure that they have the services that they need.
 
And so that’s why I’m really grateful for the Minister that we are here in front of Burwood Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. This is a great service in our local community that I know hundreds and hundreds of people have been using. It’s meant that they’ve been able to get healthcare quickly without having to wait in an emergency room for hours. And I want to thank all the staff here at Myhealth Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for extraordinary care that they have provided to all of their patients. So thank you, Minister Butler, for being here.
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Thanks so much, Sally. All of us in the Parliament but right across Australia have got our breath held and will be waiting in hope for some positive news about Helen’s condition. I know she is in a serious condition. She was medevaced from Wangaratta to the Alfred Hospital, one of our best hospitals in Melbourne, and has been undergoing treatment over the course of the night. All of us are waiting for an update from the hospital, and the police about progress around this utterly unlawful attack that happened late yesterday afternoon.
 
Also, as Sally says today, our thoughts, our wishes, our prayers are with Helen, her friends, her staff and with the community that she represents and is so passionate about, particularly in Wangaratta. The Wangaratta community must be in shock this morning that something this awful has happened in their beautiful, beautiful town. As I’ve said a couple of times this morning, we should also recognise that the Director of National Intelligence, the head of ASIO, the head of the Federal Police, the Prime Minister and many others have been warning for some time now of the need for us to turn the temperature down around political debate in this country. The number of threats have doubled over the last five years. The need for protection has increased dramatically, which was reflected in this year’s budget. And then that reflects a change in the nature of political debate for worse in this country. We have a great tradition in Australia of open, respectful, tolerant, even when there are very different views about the direction of our country.  We don’t want to see that change. We don’t want to see a situation like Sally talked about that you see in pretty much every other country in the world, where political figures are sheltered behind a cordon of protection, often armed protection, which is commonplace in Europe but also in so many other countries besides.
 
But that is a debate for another day. Today is just that our wishes, our thoughts, our prayers are with Helen and her family. As I said, we hope for more soon this morning of her recovery, and an update on her condition which we acknowledge is serious.
 
Can I say though, I’m also really happy to be here at Myhealth Urgent Care Clinic in Burwood. Myhealth has some experience of operating Urgent Care Clinics, has runs on the board for delivering high quality service for urgent care. They bring service that people need in their community, seven days a week, extended hours, importantly completely free of charge. And as Sally said, already this Urgent Care Clinic, which only opened at the end of last year, has seen thousands of members of this community. Not only are they getting high quality urgent care where they need it, but they’re also taking pressure off the local hospital emergency departments. We know that right around the country where Urgent Care Clinics have been established.
 
And today also marks an important milestone for another tool in the Medicare toolbox, which is 1800MEDICARE, a 24/7, 365 day a year phone service for Australians to call when they need some advice, quick advice about them or often their children. Already since it started on 1 January, well over a million Australians have accessed this service. It’s completely free of charge, obviously very convenient at the end of your phone. And it also provides that high quality care you expect from an efficient Medicare service.
 
Again, just like this Urgent Care Clinic, it’s taking pressure off our hospital system, and almost 200,000 of those people who’ve rung 1800MEDICARE saying if that service wasn’t available, they’d have gone to the local hospital emergency department or called Triple Zero. But this is all part of our plan, our action plan, to strengthen Medicare. And we’re going to hear from Dr Monique now, who works at Burwood Urgent Care Clinic, about the difference it’s making for the local Burwood community.
 
MONIQUE MOLONEY, MYHEALTH GP: Thanks for that. Just like to say thanks to Mark and Sally for all their support for our Urgent Care Clinic in the inner west. Our community has benefited so much from what service we’ve provided here. We’re definitely seeing the pressure being lifted off our local hospitals, our wait times, where we’re striving to keep them as low as possible, and we’re seeing a range of presentations, which is really helpful to our patients and the Burwood community. So we’re delighted to be able to share this. The Medicare Urgent Care Clinic concept is working.