Petro Georgiou (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial responsibility for approval of RU486) Bill 2005. I note that there are time constraints and that we have been asked to keep our comments brief, so I will do so. As the debate has made clear, this bill does engage people’s deeply-held feelings and beliefs and it has always been clear that abortion is a very difficult and very sensitive issue. Personally, I believe that the current law regarding abortion is appropriate, but the fact is that this is not a bill to amend the law relating to abortion. This is not a bill that automatically allows the use of RU486 in Australia. To date, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has not evaluated RU486. This is a bill about who will determine whether a drug will be made available: a minister or a body of experts.

I have to say that the introduction of this bill does not represent a lack of confidence in the minister. I hold Minister Abbott and his handling of the health portfolio in very high regard, although it is no secret that we have disagreed on some issues in the past. It is equally no secret that I believe that Minister Abbott is the best friend Medicare has ever had.

My position on this bill is quite straightforward. My position is that decisions on the efficacy and safety of drugs should be in the hands of experts. Neither a minister nor the parliament should determine on a case-by-case basis whether a drug should be made available in Australia. I believe that this would be both impractical and inappropriate.

We have a regime in Australia where the Therapeutic Goods Administration is responsible for determining whether qualified health practitioners should have access to particular drugs for lawful purposes. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has the mandate to ensure the quality, safety, efficacy and timely availability of therapeutic goods. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has a high reputation and that reputation is well earned.

Decisions of the Therapeutic Goods Administration about the availability of drugs are subject to a whole series of accountability processes, not least that their decisions can be appealed on their merits to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The established process of review of administrative processes ensures that the TGA is accountable for their decisions. I believe that the decision whether RU486 may be prescribed for Australian women should be made by the process of evaluation and review applicable to all other drugs and I will be voting accordingly.

In conclusion, I wish to say that a number of members of the Kooyong community have made their views on this issue known to me and I thank them for their counsel. I commend the bill to the House and I advise that I will be voting against the amendments.

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