Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is no doubt that the COVID pandemic has affected not just Australia but also countries around the world in many ways in addition to the death and serious illness it has caused. As many people before me have spoken about in this chamber, one of the impacts has been on global supply chains and medicine supply. Australia hasn't been immune to that. But this is another example of a government that has been in office for eight years and has failed in that time to put in place plans and procedures, to think about how it would react to things like global pandemics that might affect supply chains. While it's terrific that things are being addressed now, and that this bill, the National Health Amendment (Enhancing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) Bill 2021, has some measures that will go towards access to medicines when there has been a disruption in supply chains, it's pretty rich, I have to say, for members of the government to come in here and pat themselves on the back over what a great job they've done during this global pandemic, over how they had to get involved at the last minute to stop shortages of medicines and over how this legislation will make changes when it's reactive, not proactive, when issues with supply chains were known before the pandemic and they didn't do anything about it. Local manufacturing of medicines has needed government support and hasn't got it in the eight long years of this government.

We know that there are 263 medicines listed by the TGA that are experiencing shortages in Australia, and another 54 are anticipated. Not all of that could have been prevented had this government had an actual plan for how to deal with the consequences of the global pandemic, but some of it could have been. Shortages of medicines, including medicines for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, epilepsy, high cholesterol, severe pain and mental health conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia—these are not conditions where people should be left wondering how they're going to fill their next script. These are not conditions where it's okay if you miss your medication for a little while.

I had a constituent, Ms Cameron, contact my office on behalf of her husband because he couldn't get Actemra medication to treat his giant cell arteritis. We tried our best to help. We made inquiries with local pharmacists at Peninsula Health, and they said, 'Yep, there's a global shortage of it.' Ms Cameron spent four weeks trying to get her husband his medication. It took the help of my office calling pharmacies and contacting suppliers directly before she could get a month's worth of supply, and that was only because someone hadn't turned up at the pharmacy to get their supply. It leaves you wondering what happened to that person.

How is it that Australians have to go to such great lengths to obtain medication? I have written to the minister on behalf of Ms Cameron and her husband, acknowledging the global shortages that I have spoken about. But what is the Morrison government doing to ensure the supply of Actemra increases? She can't do this every month. She is not going to be so lucky that every month somebody forgets to go or can't go and collect their script, so that she can get one for her husband. Or is it the case that the government expects her to go through that process to get that medication every month?

While the provisions in this bill are welcome, it is a shame that it's reactionary, after people have experienced the consequences of not being able to access medicines, of not being able to pay for medicines and of the global supply chain shortages—not before. It's why it's really important to have vision—vision like Labor's proposal for a reconstruction fund to support manufacturing, to diversify manufacturing and to manufacture medicines as we come out of COVID. Fifteen billion dollars in a reconstruction fund to strengthen and diversify Australian manufacturing including the manufacturing of medicines: that's the sort of policy this country needs—actually delivering an mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity in Australia, not just talking about it. This is something the Morrison government promised long ago but is yet to deliver. That's the sort of delivery and vision, not announcement, that this country needs, and needs desperately, and that would be provided by a federal Labor government.

I want to also talk about one example that my colleague the member for Cowan talked about just before me and my colleague the member for Macarthur, who is sitting next to me, tabled a petition on recently, and that's a drug that's not yet on the PBS but that would help families with loved ones suffering from cystic fibrosis, and that's Trikafta. The member for Cowan spoke about the drug, saying because it's not listed on the PBS it costs something like $300,000 a year for people to access. She doesn't know anyone who could pay that. I certainly don't know anyone in my electorate who could pay that much money. But I know people who would sell everything that they own to get that much money, if only they could, to make the lives of their children who suffer from cystic fibrosis better. They shouldn't have to.

Rachelle from Frankston South is one of those people waiting for Trikafta to be listed, for her son. He struggles to breathe every day, and, not surprisingly, she lived in ongoing fear about COVID-19 and what would happen if he was to catch it, even with vaccinations. This is what Rachelle emailed me: 'Cystic fibrosis is an awful disease to live with. It's symptoms are often very difficult to manage. I have learnt not to expect miracles, but I certainly do still expect fairness. But now it's clear that in this latest round, following PBAC applications, we will receive neither. The miracle is right there, just out of reach, because Vertex and the government were unable to come to an agreement. My family will suffer. Other families will suffer, some may even lose the ones they love. Individuals cannot afford Trikafta on their own. We need help. But it is a cutting-edge medicine with proven effectiveness. Trikafta improves lung function, decreases exacerbations and improves weight gain for an overwhelming majority of CF patients. There is no substitute. There is nothing that can offer the same hope, the same lease on life.' She wrote to me: 'Please use your power to help make the powers that be reconsider Trikafta. There is always something that can be done, always a proposition to be made or an angle to be explored. Please step up the pressure, and hopefully your efforts will bring both parties to the negotiating table. In the meantime, CF Australians need compassionate access to Trikafta so that lives and life years can be saved while the negotiations are dragging on. I am one person,' says Rachelle, 'but there are many more like me, and we are all standing up to be counted. Please stand with us, and don't let the government give up on us by giving up on Trikafta. Yours, in help, parents of a child with CF, Rachelle and her husband.'

Today I am standing up with Rachelle and all of the other constituents who have contacted me on behalf of their loved ones, to support them and to put Rachelle's words before the parliament about what Trikafta could do if only it was affordable and accessible. I lend my support to their campaign for the government to get that negotiation done and to get it listed on the PBS.

See this speech in context