Fifty new bulk-billing GP clinics would open in Queensland under a $365 million Labor re-election promise, but the plan is already facing backlash from doctors and the opposition.
Premier Steven Miles unveiled Labor's latest cost-of-living pitch on the campaign trial on Saturday, two weeks out from election day.
Queensland taxpayers would foot the bill to establish the extra clinics if Labor can extend its nine-year reign in the state, despite GPs and primary care usually being a Commonwealth responsibility.
Healthcare is a universal right and it's something Queenslanders should be able to access for free, no matter where they live.— Queensland Labor (@QLDLabor) October 12, 2024
Mr Miles said the Albanese government had been tipped off about the move and would continue paying bulk-billing rebates to GPs.
"We want Queenslanders to have access to bulk billing," he told reporters ahead of Labor's official election campaign launch on Sunday.
"I've spent years watching the pressure build on our hospitals while bemoaning the decline of bulk billing.
"I'm sick of waiting. I wanted a way to step in and fix it."
Doctors say Queensland has staffing challenges, not a lack of GP clinics. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Australian Medical Association Queensland president Nick Yim said the pledge was well-intentioned but showed a fundamental misunderstanding of the pressures facing existing practices.
"We do not have an infrastructure shortage. We have a workforce shortage," he said.
"We urgently need more doctors, nurses, allied healthcare practitioners and administration staff to keep our existing clinics open."
Dr Yim said setting up new centres was costly and inefficient.
"This is a substantial investment that could benefit all Queenslanders, not just those in 50 unspecified locations," he said.
The Queensland opposition has ruled out matching Mr Miles' promise, with deputy Liberal National Party leader Jarrod Bleijie branding it "desperate".
"There are so many unanswered questions," he said.
David Crisafulli is vowing to shore up Queensland's water storage capacity. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
LNP leader David Crisafulli, whose party is ahead in the polls, was instead spruiking his own election plan to build a new dam somewhere in southeast Queensland.
Under the water security plan, no recycled water and desalination plants would be built and all 23 Queensland regional water plans reviewed over the next four years to boost affordability and reliability of supply.
"By building our water storage capacity we will have a watertight plan come drought or flood," Mr Crisafulli said.