I would be happy to take the member for Grey to my electorate to see the difference an Albanese government is already making after a decade of neglect from those opposite. I'm pleased to be able to rise today to lend my support to this important piece of private member's business. I commend the member for Griffith for bringing this matter forward, and I'd also like to congratulate her on her election to this place and her powerful first speech in the first sitting period.

This motion goes to the heart of the agenda of the Albanese government in terms of access to and outcomes in health care. We recognise the essential importance of mental health in the overall context of public health. We also recognise that mental health services and supports can be inaccessible in terms of cost, availability and proximity. On this side of the House, we believe firmly that the only thing you should need to access important care is a small piece of green plastic—your Medicare card, a card those opposite have never been particularly committed to or interested in.

Recognising all this, our government is acting to put mental health at the heart of Medicare in ensuring that mental health services are located appropriately and accessible to all. At the recent election, we made a $1.1 billion commitment towards mental health. What this looks like on the ground is 91 Medicare mental health centres across Australia. These centres are staffed by clinical and non-clinical staff who offer mental health support and care without the need for an appointment, referral or treatment plan. Best of all, it's free. All you need is your Medicare card.

I know how good these centres are, as I have one such centre in my electorate of Bean. Last month I visited the new Tuggeranong Medicare Mental Health Centre with the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, the member for Dobell, for its official opening. It was wonderful to meet the staff and partners who worked to make the centre possible. The centre is a welcoming and calm environment with a dedicated and able staff ready to offer assistance. The location of the centre could not be better, being close to the Tuggeranong bus interchange as well as parking and other public health facilities and shopfronts. The centre is located on Eileen Good Street in Greenway and is open from 9 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday. I am pleased that my constituents are now able to access critical mental health supports and services for free and that these services are close to other critical community amenities and transport links. I'm proud to deliver this centre for the people of Bean.

Our new Medicare mental health centre will be complemented very soon by a number of other critical services in Bean, including a perinatal wellbeing centre, also accessible to anyone with a Medicare card. This follows the establishment of an eating disorders clinic, also in the electorate of Bean, late last year. I'm looking forward to that perinatal wellbeing centre coming online soon, and I'm also looking forward to the establishment of a Medicare urgent care clinic in Woden, just down the road from Tuggeranong.

I remain firmly committed to working to ensure that the people of Bean continue to get access to real on-the-ground services which bring a meaningful and positive change to their lives and health care. I'm proud to be part of a government that is delivering meaningful health care, including meaningful mental health care, not just for residents of Bean but right across Australia. Labor governments have always made accessible and affordable health care a priority, from the beginnings of Medibank to Medicare, and now to an Albanese government.