Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I present, for the information of members, an addendum to the explanatory memorandum for the National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits—Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2017. It has been prepared by the government as recommended by the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills and reflects additional information provided to the committee following the tabling of the bill in October last year. I present also a correction to the explanatory memorandum to correct a typographical error. The correction deletes the mention of two minor technical changes which were not included in the bill.

More broadly, I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. I want to acknowledge the previous speaker, the member for Macarthur. In response to his particular question about real-time monitoring, I note that we have announced $16 million for the delivery of the first national real-time monitoring service in relation to prescriptions. I'll shortly be writing to all of the states in order to encourage them to expedite this program. He's right to emphasise this, and we were right to make the funds available. I hope the states will do the right thing and join us expeditiously.

More generally, the government understands the absolute importance that members place on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme remaining accessible and sustainable into the future. This bill is about those fundamental precepts being united. For constituents, for Australians of all backgrounds, the PBS not only provides pharmaceutical services and subsidies for individuals but also brings economic opportunity for industry, research and employment. We know from work that the New South Wales government has done that the rate of job growth in health and medical precincts allied with universities, often associated with pharmaceutical benefits, is well over twice that of the national average. New high-paying jobs, investment and wealth are created by the Australian role within our health and medical precincts and, in particular, our device and drug industries in this country.

Therefore, the changes in this bill are the result of agreements made with three of Australia's largest pharmaceutical organisations, those being Medicines Australia, the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. It is, to the best of my knowledge and on the advice of the department, the first time simultaneous agreements have been reached with those three bodies as well as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the AMA. Those agreements, therefore, reflect a genuinely shared approach to achieving value for money for medicines and transparency in decision-making and undertakings regarding government reinvestment, which is fundamental to these agreements.

In particular, the proposed changes to PBS pricing are designed to deliver savings in a way that works for industry. I realise it has not been easy. Many international firms and many Australian firms have made sacrifices for the collective benefit of Australian patients and the public and for the collective advancement of the Australian pharmaceutical sector and industry. Applying agreed price reductions for single brand medicines at agreed intervals after five, 10 and 15 years of listing, at a five per cent, 10 per cent and a further five per cent—and increasing the price reduction that applies on entry of an additional brand—will provide policy certainty for companies and a more stable PBS pricing environment.

For industry, the reality of delivering up savings is being balanced by government undertakings to reinvest those savings in the PBS. In response to the member for Macarthur, let me indicate some of the reinvestments that have already taken place since the budget. In Opdivo for lung and kidney cancer—an example of the new immunotherapies to which he has referred—there has been a $1.1 billion investment. In Stelara for Crohn's disease there has been a $378.5 million investment. In Ibrutinib, for leukaemia and lymphoma, there has been a $466 million investment. These are what are sometimes known as blockbuster drugs, but, for the patients and their families, they are life-saving, life-changing drugs. Having met those that have benefitted from each of these drugs, I've got to say that, as a nation, we must and should be immensely proud of the Australian system.

In that context, the government's commitment to listing all new medicines with a positive recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee includes the savings generated by these agreements. I am delighted to report not just the success of the savings measure but the reinvestment and the fact that that is well underway, with those examples that I've given.

Another positive provision for industry will allow companies to list certain new presentations of brands without a new brand price reduction. Manufacturers will benefit from being able to list additional presentations without a price penalty and patients will be able to access product improvements sooner.

Overall, the provisions in the bill are reasonable and sound, including the new power which allows the minister the discretion to reduce or to not apply a statutory price reduction and to determine that a brand is a new presentation. I can advise that, at the request of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, I have provided additional information now tabled on the reasons for ministerial discretion, the way in which it will operate and the arrangements under the strategic agreement with Medicines Australia for oversight of the implementation of these measures. I am pleased that the Senate committee has accepted that explanation, and an amendment to the explanatory memorandum to the bill reflects the key information provided to them.

In relation to transparency and scrutiny of written determinations made by a minister to reduce or not apply a price reduction, I can confirm—again, in response to the member for Macarthur's points—that those determinations will be made publicly available via registration on the Federal Register of Legislation, as is appropriate and as is the right thing to do. This is in addition to publication on the PBS website.

Ultimately, the amendments in the bill reflect the outcomes of extensive and extraordinary consultations and negotiations. I particularly want to thank the leadership of some of the organisations I mentioned before. Within Medicines Australia I particularly want to thank Milton Catelin, the CEO, James Boyce, who is the head of government relations, and the extraordinary chair, Wes Cook, just an amazing industry leader, as well as the member companies and the many CEOs and senior executives with whom I have had the pleasure of working with so far, along with my office and the department. At the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association, I particularly want to thank Belinda Wood, the CEO, and Allan Tillack, the chair. At the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, I particularly want to thank the president, George Tambassis, another extraordinary leader, and David Quilty, his incredibly capable executive director, along with board member Trent Twomey.

I particularly want to thank all of the staff within the Department of Health, the former secretary Martin Bowles, who contributed significantly to this, and Penny Shakespeare, one of the senior executives who played a huge role in the delivery of this outcome. Within my office, I've been blessed with the incredible work of my amazing adviser, Alex Best, who truly should be declared a living national treasure. Nick Henry, our budget senior adviser, has done incredible work, as has my chief of staff, Wendy Black. Together, they have done an amazing job in helping to bring this agreement to fruition.

Finally, Australian patients have a world-class health system and access to world-class medicines, but it can always be better. The new medicines that are coming on are costly, but that's okay. It's our job, not just as a government but as a nation, to help deliver those. In that context, the changes in this bill support the ongoing sustainability of the PBS and, above all else, the accessibility of these new medicines for new patients. Lives can be transformed and lives will be saved. The government therefore believes that the agreement is genuinely of benefit to all parties. A more sustainable PBS will allow the PBS to respond to growing demands and to new medicines and new technologies as they occur. It's good for the medicines industry. It's good for taxpayers. But, above all else, it is of dramatic benefit for patients of products such as Stelara, Opdivo, Ibrutinib, Entresto and so many other breakthrough medicines. Ultimately, I commend the bill to the House and I thank all members for their support.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Administrator recommending appropriation announced.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 17:58

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