Radio Interview, ABC North Queensland

SUBJECTS: Defence Housing in Townsville; Medicare.

ALEX CHAMBERS, HOST: I do have Richard Marles, who's the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, who's on the program this morning. Good morning, Richard Marles.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Alex. How are you?

CHAMBERS: Very well. Now, no doubt you might have heard of these reports about the state of our Defence housing in Townsville at the moment, in preparation for these troops that are coming or slowly dribbling into the city. One of those claims that we saw on the weekend was that soldiers are sleeping in guard rooms while others have been evicted from their base accommodation. What can you share with us about this situation?

MARLES: Well, obviously, I saw those reports over the course of the weekend and we're speaking with the Department and running them to ground. So, I'm not in a position to comment further about the specific reports other than to say we're confident that we do have the housing in place to support those who are currently in Townsville. And we, as you know, there's a planned increase in the number of personnel coming to Townsville over the next few years, which is going to be fantastic for Defence's presence in Townsville. It'll be really good for the Townsville economy. But there is a housing challenge associated with that and that's why we're building on our 1200 houses that Defence Housing Australia has, we've announced that we will be pursuing another 400 houses through DHA and through leasing arrangements. And those coming to Townsville obviously are not happening overnight, it will ramp up over a number of years and we're confident that we will be able to meet the challenge of providing housing as well, of course, as what we're doing more generally in terms of building housing stock around the country.

CHAMBERS: Have you heard stories of soldiers sleeping in guard rooms?

MARLES: I've not heard those stories, to be honest, other than what was in the paper on the weekend and we're running that specific claim to ground to get a sense of what is being talked about there. But as I say, I'm confident that we are meeting the housing needs of those who are currently serving in Townsville, be it at Lavarack or at RAAF Base Townsville. And we are also confident that we will be able to meet the challenge of the increasing numbers of servicemen and women as they grow in Townsville over the coming years.

CHAMBERS: As you probably try and get to the bottom of some of these reports where soldiers are being housed at the moment, I know that you mentioned that, how many families and soldiers are we expecting to see in Townsville and how many have come already?

MARLES: Some have come already and the numbers that grow over the coming years will be significant, relative to what we've got at the moment. But I mean, the most significant change in the immediate term is the Attack class helicopters, which will start operating from Townsville at the end of the year. That's a shift from Darwin, which is the current Tiger helicopter, which we're using in Darwin, but we'll be using the Apaches as they come online at the end of this year in Townsville. There are some families associated with that program who have already moved to Townsville, we're talking in the tens at this point. But over the near term, or over the medium term, I should say, there will be more than that. But again, we are confident about the numbers of houses that we will, and accommodation that we will be able to be put in place for those families.

CHAMBERS: There were some reports last year, or it might have been a year and a half ago, at least there was about 150, 100 to 150 Defence houses that were still vacant, that were actually in desperate need of maintenance in Townsville. Do you know if any works have started on these homes?

MARLES: Again, specifically in terms of the specific homes, I can't comment on that, but we are constantly making sure that our stock in Defence Housing Australia is maintained and is up to scratch and that there is the appropriate availability for the families that are required. And again, I come back to what I said at the start; I'm confident that we're meeting the needs of Defence Force personnel who are in Townsville right now. And while we do acknowledge that there is a challenge going forward, it's one that we're confident that we're going to be able to meet.

CHAMBERS: Hopefully. I mean, the last thing you want to do is move into a town where you haven't got anywhere to live and the rental market's been such a tight squeeze, especially here in North Queensland for so long. Do you see that, you know, some of those personnel being put into sort of the current real estate market that's not owned by Defence Housing?

MARLES: That happens. And around Australia there are options for Defence Force personnel to pursue their own accommodation through the normal rental market and there is assistance that we provide Defence Force personnel to do that. So, that's absolutely part of the mix when we're talking about how Defence Force personnel are accommodated. It is a combination of what Defence Housing Australia puts in place, what we have on base in terms of barracks, and then people accessing the private rental market themselves with the appropriate supports that we provide them. And that's the case around Australia. And you know, through all of that we are confident that we will be able to meet the challenge associated with the growing numbers that we'll see over the coming years in Townsville. As I say, it's not– none of this is happening overnight. It is small numbers that are coming in at any moment in time. It's a very gradual process, but it is going to, you know, over a few years it will be a significant number of people who do come. And that's going to be really good for Townsville. It'll be great for the Townsville economy. But we're also making sure that we are meeting the housing challenge for the future personnel as well as those who are currently serving in Townsville.

CHAMBERS: This is ABC North Queensland. My guest this morning is the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles discussing the Defence housing situation in Townsville. But moving on, there was another big announcement over the weekend with Medicare – $8.5 billion. Also the opposition releasing very shortly afterwards that they would sort of match that funding as well. It felt like there was a bit of homework copying there, Richard Marles?

MARLES: Well, that might be a way to put it. I mean, look, this is a really important announcement that we've made. It's the biggest investment in Medicare since its creation more than 40 years ago and it will mean that for nine out of 10 visits to the GP you'll be bulk billed, so there'll be no gap fees. And that's being done through a combination of increasing incentives to GP clinics to bulk bill, they'll only get those incentives if they bulk bill, increasing the Medicare rebate itself and in time also having more doctors. Part of this announcement is to have more Commonwealth supported places for doctor training and more urgent care clinics. We understand that Australians are doing it tough in terms of cost of living. And the most important thing in a moment such as this, or any moment, actually, is to have access to public health and access where you're not out of pocket. And that's why this announcement is so important.

CHAMBERS: I just had a text here from Chris who was in Tully. He was saying he was glad to hear that the bulk billing increases are coming but we need it now rather than in November. He also says what about dental care? It's unaffordable to the average person in rural Queensland.

MARLES: Well again dental care is something that we've looked at over the years but it comes back to the importance of health and the importance of this measure. And I mean you said in your opening that there's homework copying here. I think when you– Peter Dutton said what he said yesterday, but what's also clear is that Peter Dutton is resolutely sticking to the proposition that a government led by him will cut $350 billion from the federal budget. That is such an enormous amount of money. You can't do that without hacking into frontline services such as Medicare. And whatever Peter Dutton said yesterday, his history as the Minister for Health when he was that was effectively to try and abolish bulk billing altogether through the introduction of a GP tax. I mean the Liberals have always been focused on cutting back on Medicare and I think when they go looking for their $350 billion it's inevitable that they will attack Medicare as well. So, in many ways I think what you see here is a very strong contrast between ourselves, the Albanese Labor Government, and what the Liberals will represent if they're given the opportunity to govern after the next election.

CHAMBERS: And we've only got a minute to go until the news at 8 o'clock this morning but with this sort of pre election commitment from the Government yesterday and also from the Opposition Leader yesterday as well, does that mean we're going to be getting an election called very soon? This week, perhaps today?

MARLES: Well I'm not going to speculate on exactly when that's going to happen because I don't know and it's a matter for the Prime Minister. But what we do know is that there will be an election soon. I mean whichever way you look at it, the three year anniversary of this Government comes up in May and one imagines that at a time between now and then we'll go to the polls. And whichever way you look at it that's not so far off. And that's why it's really important that Australians understand what's at stake when nearly election occurs and you know, it has been difficult with cost of living, we all know that. We do now see light at the end of the tunnel with interest rate cut, that's a function of prudent budget management–

CHAMBERS: Just run out of time, Deputy Prime Minister, so I'm going to have to cut you off there. But thank you so much for making time to have a chat this morning. 

ENDS