Katy Gallagher has urged Aussies to be careful while gardening after flyaway flax seeds left her with painful scratches to her eye.
Australia’s Finance Minister, sporting an oval-shaped bandage on one eye, shared her ordeal from the backyard of her Canberra home on Saturday.
Ms Gallagher said the injury ‘looks worse than it is’ and was ‘annoying’.
‘I’m not sure I can do this without laughing looking at myself,’ she said in the clip shared to her personal Instagram.
‘Just your friendly reminder that if you’re near flax, probably wear sunglasses.
‘I’ve scratched my eye… again it looks worse than it is. Thanks to the walk-in staff here in Canberra, they’re called Medicare Urgent Care Clinics around Australia.’
Aussies, including some of her fellow colleagues in parliament, wished her a speedy recovery following the mishap.
Member for Perth Patrick Gorman wrote ‘Ouch! Get well soon’ while the member for Canberra Alicia Payne commented ‘Ouch Katy! Take care’.
Katy Gallagher (pictured) was sporting an oval-shaped bandage on Saturday
ABC News Breakfast presenter Michael Rowland also wished Senator Gallagher a quick recovery from her injury.
Others praised the clinics, which Senator Gallagher spruiked during the short video, while some said more needed to be set up in remote communities.
‘Urgent care clinics are amazing,’ one person wrote.
‘We need this in rural and semi-rural communities,’ anther person wrote.
The federal government announced in 2022 they would introduce the clinics as a major reform to Australia’s healthcare system.
The government committed to spending $135million during the previous election campaign to trail 50 new clinics across the country.
The move was made to reduce the burden on hospital emergency departments.
The centres are open seven days a week and for extended hours on the weekends.
Ms Gallagher (pictured) spruiked the urgent care clinics during the short video, which were announced by the federal government in 2022 to ease pressure on emergency departments
Patients do not need to make an appointment and medical services are bulk-billed meaning there are no out of pocket costs.
There are 87 urgent care clinics operating across Australia including 22 in NSW, 17 in Victoria, 16 in Queensland, 8 in Western Australia and 6 in South Australia.
There are 8 clinics operating in the Northern Territory and 5 each in the ACT and Tasmania since the clinics were rolled out in July 2023.
One million Aussies have visited a clinic since they were announced.