TV interview with Minister Butler, ABC News Breakfast – 3 March 2025

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: Labor over the weekend promised almost $650 million for 50 new Urgent Care Clinics. For more on this, the federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, joins us from Brisbane as well. Minister. Good morning.
 
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: Good morning, James.
 
GLENDAY: With this funding, another 50 bulk billing Urgent Care Clinics will be rolled out. Are they going to take pressure off public hospitals? Are they actually going to work?
 
BUTLER: They are. We know from the 87 already operating they are working in 2 really important ways. Firstly, really importantly, they're giving patients access to high-quality urgent care in their own community, when they need it. Seven days a week, extended hours and completely free of charge.
 
But we also know from hospital data that that is relieving pressure, particularly for the non-urgent and semi-urgent presentations, which account for about half of all emergency department presentations. Those can be quite adequately dealt with and cared for and treated in settings in the community, if they're available. But the challenge is if your kid gets injured in Saturday afternoon sport or falls off the skateboard, there's simply not a general practice available to you. Parents end up waiting with their kid for hours and hours in crowded emergency departments.

GLENDAY: On another issue, President Zelenskyy was embraced in the UK yesterday and European countries are now working on a ceasefire agreement to put to the US. Will Australia have any input on that process at all?
 
BUTLER: Australia, right through this awful war, in the more than 3 years since Russia's illegal and immoral invasion has been working very closely with allies in Europe and working directly with the government in Ukraine to ensure that whatever assistance we can provide to the Ukrainian people, we are providing it. We've provided an enormous amount by comparison to other countries not in the European region. And the Prime Minister said only yesterday, again, of course, we are forthrightly alongside the Ukrainian people's very courageous resistance against this awful invasion. 
 
GLENDAY: Chinese warships have been travelling around Australia. Our navy does these kinds of trips. Has the threat posed by these warships and their appearance in our part of the world been overblown, do you think, by the media and maybe some politicians as well?
 
BUTLER: The point the government has made privately to China and publicly as well to the Australian people, is that we weren't given the proper notice by China of their live firing drills. We've made that point diplomatically here in Canberra, and in Beijing as well. The Foreign Minister made it to her counterpart when she was at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting recently in South Africa. That is an important point that, of course, different naval ships will traverse international waters up near China and maybe down near Australia as well. But there are protocols that we would expect China and other countries to adhere to. We've made our concerns clear to them about that. But yes, we're monitoring this. We're doing it in close consultation and cooperation with New Zealand and ensuring that we have a very clear idea of what they are doing as they traverse the international waters around Australia.
 
GLENDAY: Now, you are probably sick of being asked this, but this time next week will we be in an election campaign?
 
BUTLER: Election date? Election date? I thought that might be coming, James. I'm not the Prime Minister. I am ready for an election relatively soon. Or more like 9, 10, 11 weeks, which is the latest it can happen. I think what your viewers obviously understand is there is an election coming very soon. It will either be sort of around 6 weeks time, or 11 or 12, or something in between that. I'm ready for any eventuality, James.
 
GLENDAY: You're in Queensland at the moment. Do you look at what's happening with a potential storm, things like that? Does that affect when an election would be called?
 
BUTER: The Prime Minister will be thinking about all of that. My understanding is that Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall, dangerously, in a very populated part of Queensland as soon as Thursday. I'm sure he'll be taking briefings from the Commonwealth authorities about that and that will feature in his planning. I think the most important thing, as your interview with the Premier indicated, is that everyone in Australia is holding our breath and hoping for the best.
 
GLENDAY: Minister, thank you very much for your patience and your time this morning.
 
BUTLER: Thanks, James.