Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Moreton for his question, because I know he appreciates that last night the Treasurer delivered a budget that invested $9.9 billion in new health and aged-care measures: measures to strengthen Medicare; measures to restore dignity to aged care, being led by my friend and colleague Minister Wells; measures to cut the cost of medicines; measures to rebuild the health and aged-care workforce; and measures to strengthen First Nations health, beginning the long task of cleaning up the mess that was left to us by the Liberal Party—a job that every modern Labor government has had to do over the last 50 years in the area of health.

A centrepiece of this investment delivered the biggest cut to the cost of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS, bringing the maximum co-payment for general patients down from $42.50 to just $30, putting $190 million every year back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. This responsible cost-of-living relief could not happen at a better time than this. Leanne wrote to me yesterday and said: 'At the moment, I pay over $150 each and every month for medication I need to be on. Thank you, Albo. This will make a big difference to me.' Lucy, a pharmacist, wrote: 'Thank you for making medicines more affordable. As a pharmacist, it's a difficult conversation to have with patients when they can't afford the treatment that they need.' Janine wrote: 'Thanks, Albo. My family spend a few hundred dollars every month on scripts, and this will definitely make a difference.'

This relief builds on a range of other measures introduced in our short five months in government to cut the cost of medicines and to list new medicines on the PBS. Just a few months ago, in early July, the safety net threshold for pensioners and concession card holders was slashed by 25 per cent, meaning, across the year, those millions of Australians know that they will pay no more than $4.70 every week for all of their medicines needs. Last month, the prices of more than 2,000 individual medicines were cut, putting another $130 million back in the pockets of hardworking Australians. As all members know, today this House again reaffirmed our promise to extend cheaper medicines to more self-funded retirees. Our legislation to extend the seniors health card to more than 50,000 additional self-funded retirees will see their medicines bills plummet. Cutting the cost of medicines is not just good for the hip pocket but also good for the health of millions and millions of Australians. These responsible measures introduced by the Treasurer's budget last night will make a real difference to millions of Australians.

See this speech in context