Ms LEY (Farrer—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (09:25): I rise to respond and to address the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care's statement to mark Women's Health Week. The theme for this year's Women's Health Week is 'Grow your Knowledge', supporting women to learn and make informed decisions about their health from regular health checks and juggling the work-life balance to nutritious recipes tailored to different ages and life stages. We know that the health of Australian women and girls is absolutely critical to their overall wellbeing and ability to fully participate in society. The coalition does have a proud record of funding many important women's health initiatives. We invested $100 million for improvements to cervical and breast cancer screening programs, which will help detect these life-threatening cancers earlier and improve survival rates. We invested $95 million for new tests on the Medicare Benefits Schedule for pre-implantation genetic testing of embryos for specific genetic or chromosomal abnormalities prior to implantation. We invested $47 million to support the mental health and wellbeing of new and expectant parents, including through funding for the Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia helpline and by working to deliver universal perinatal mental health screening and improve data collection across public antenatal and postnatal settings. We invested $26 million to provide support for people with eating disorders and their families, noting that women account for almost two-thirds of eating disorder diagnoses. We invested $22 million for additional gynaecology items on the MBS, including items for assisted reproductive technology and long-term reversible contraceptives. We invested $21 million for women's health initiatives, including in Jean Hailes, the women's health leader, and the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia for the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis Program. We invested $19 million for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listing of Oripro, which is progesterone, to prevent women from going into premature labour. We invested $13 million for the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance to reduce preterm birth rates and $6 million for Breast Cancer Network Australia to operate its helpline and rural and regional information forums, and to extend its consumer representative training program. Our last women's budget statement invested $330 million to support the maternal, sexual and reproductive health of Australian women and girls. Labor's 2023-24 budget was full of healthcare headlines but lacked much-needed measures related to women's health. It is critical that Australian women have affordable access to the health care they need, which is why it was so disappointing that the government did not provide any support for the brave women across the country battling ovarian cancer. The government ignored Ovarian Cancer Australia, and the absence of key funding for ovarian cancer is of real concern. A range of assisted reproductive technology services are already subsidised through Medicare to support couples with fertility issues. In 2021 around 50,000 women received these Medicare funded services, most commonly through IVF procedures. In the last financial year alone, Medicare paid a total of $324 million in benefits. However, costs associated with the storage of eggs, sperm or embryos are not currently subsidised through the MBS. The coalition will commit $14.4 million to help support Australians who have cancer or genetic diseases and conditions with the cost of storage for an average period of five years. To support new parents the coalition is also providing $9.5 million to streamline access to information and services from the pregnancy planning stage to their child's first birthday. We will expand the Birth of a Child life-event service, which aims to simplify the newborn enrolment process for Medicare and Centrelink family assistance payments. A further $4.2 million will also support improvements to the current clinical pregnancy-care guidelines, develop and implement postnatal guidelines and improve advice to government on improving maternity services for rural families. As we have stated, we will support good policy put forward by this government in this area. But equally we will not hesitate to hold them to account where we feel they should be doing better. On that basis a measure that has our certain support is a provision of $16.8 million to introduce a new Medicare Benefits Schedule item for a test that determines a patient's risk of recurrent breast cancer. We know that genetic testing is a critical way to increase early diagnosis of breast cancer and to increase breast cancer prevention for at-risk women, so this, I acknowledge, is a great women's health item for the MBS. We understand that one in nine Australia women are affected by endometriosis, which can affect women's health, fertility, education and employment outcomes. The coalition was committed to investing $58 million to support women to get a diagnosis earlier, ensuring women with endometriosis have access to resources to make informed choices for their health, and doctors will be provided with guidance on the best treatment plans. The coalition was pleased to see the government commit to funding our $58 million package for endometriosis and pelvic pain, and we recognise how important this investment is for women across the country who need better access to this critical support. I stand here today to reiterate our commitment to Australians. We understand that, of all the cancers specifically affecting women, ovarian cancer is the deadliest. I confirm that a coalition government will invest $4 million in Ovarian Cancer Australia. They will not be forgotten under a coalition government. We will allocate $5 million to review women-specific health items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule and corresponding treatments on the PBS. This review will identify which best-practice women-specific medical services are not listed and ensure clinically affected services and treatments are affordable and accessible for conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome. We will support good policy put forward by this government in the area of women's health. Equally, as I said, we will not hesitate to hold them to account. Whilst the coalition is proud to stand for better access to quality health care for women, we want to make sure that this Labor government prioritises women's health far more in their future budgets.