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

I thank the member for her question, and I thank her and members across the chamber for attending the World AIDS Day breakfast with me this morning. I also want to thank her for her service on the frontline as an infectious diseases physician in the darkest days of the pandemic down in Melbourne.

In just six months, the Albanese government has hit the ground running to deliver better Medicare services for millions of Australians. We said we'd cut the price of medicines for millions of Australians, and we've delivered. On 1 January we will deliver the largest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, putting $200 million every single year back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. In July we slashed by 25 per cent the maximum amount that pensioners and concession card holders would pay for their medicines, and in September we cut the price of more than 2,000 brands of medicines, putting $130 million back into the pockets of Australian patients.

Since July we've added 54 new and extended listings to the PBS. We said we'd expand access to constant glucose monitoring devices for all Australians living with type 1 diabetes, and we delivered. We said we'd subsidise access to the next generation Omnipod insulin pumps, and we delivered. We said we'd work to close the gap in First Nations health, and we've delivered 500 First Nations health workers, funding to combat rheumatic heart disease and 30 four-chair dialysis units—all through the October budget.

We expanded access to life-saving antivirals for COVID, particularly for the over-70s, and eligibility for the fourth dose of the vaccine. We were one of the few countries to secure doses of the third-generation monkeypox virus vaccine. We said we'd crack down on cosmetic cowboys, and we've delivered. We said we'd make it easier to recruit GPs in our regions, and we've delivered.

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