Anthony Albanese 'guarantees' no jobs will be lost on road to net zero, urgent Medicare centre to be hosted in Hunter

Continuing his health blitz on day four of the campaign, Mr Albanese appeared at Cessnock Hospital to announce it will be a trial site for Labor's proposed urgent medical centres.

Labor was looking to retain the electorate despite the departure of MP Joel Fitzgibbon, who has repeatedly warned the party faced an exodus of blue collar workers over its rhetoric on energy.

But attempting to head off concerns, Mr Albanese insisted no Australians would lose their job as a result of a shift to net zero emissions by 2050, which included mid-term 43 per cent reduction target.

"Not only can we guarantee it, our modelling guaranteed it," he said.

The Labor leader stressed major polluters - such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Santos - had committed to net zero by 2050.

Mr Fitzgibbon was a thorn in Mr Albanese side on energy, quitting the frontbench over disagreements on climate change, and calling for then-Labor climate spokesman Mark Butler to lose his job.

The outgoing MP was a strident supporter of Hunter's coal industry and Dan Repacholi, the man seeking to replace him, insisted the sector had "many more years to go".

"I am confident on that. The export market will make the decision about coal mining's future," he said.

"[We have the] best energy sector in NSW ... We have so much to offer here in the Hunter and we will continue to offer that."

Part of Mr Albanese's pitch to the Hunter was a pledge to base an urgent medical centre at Cessnock Hospital.

Labor this week announced it would trial 50 sites, based in GP centres and hospitals, for the treatment of emergency but non-life threatening injuries like broken bones and wounds requiring stiches.

The Australian Medical Association has blasted the plan for failing to address "the major problems facing Australia's health system", warning it would further fragment care without fixing logjams.

Mr Albanese insisted the hospital queues were bulging partly because patients suffering non-life threatening injuries were sent to emergency departments over a lack of access to nurses.

"This addresses hospital waiting times ... It is important. It is somewhere in between a visit to your local GP ... and the acute care that is often required in emergency departments," he said.

Pressed on whether Labor would require foreign doctors to staff the new centres, Mr Albanese insisted foreign health care workers were "part of our migration system".

"I hate to break it to you. I don't know if you were listening to the accents [of health care workers] before but, I don't think she is from Cessnock," he said.

"I will give you the big tip: when I was in Royal Prince Alfred [Hospital] last year, it was Irish nurses. Just about everyone was an Irish nurse."

In a throwback to the 2016 campaign, Labor ramped up its rhetoric over health on Wednesday, with deputy leader Richard Marles warning of Medicare "cuts by stealth" if the Coalition retains office.

Mr Albanese has spent the first four days of the campaign focusing almost exclusively on health, with daily announcements centred on fixing flaws in the system laid bare by COVID-19.

Labor has pledged to trial 50 urgent medical care centres, for non-life threatening injuries like broken bones, to ease pressure on Australia's bulging hospital systems.

It came after pledges to restore mental health telehealth services in regional areas, health support for "burned out" nurses, and extra funding for children with hearing loss.

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: