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

Member for Riverina: you asked about those nursing homes in your electorate who are concerned about 24/7 nurses being put on and whether they can do it. You asked the parliament, 'What are they supposed to do?' How about they speak to the excellent Minister for Aged Care, who is sitting right there, about the supports and exemptions that are in place? If you are not referring them to do that, then you're not doing your job! You're not doing your job, because she has said so many times that she is there to help any facility that has trouble meeting the 24/7 nurse legislation. There are exemptions and there are supports. So instead of coming in here and having a crack at the minister, do your job and speak to your nursing facilities that have concerns. Tell them to get in contact with the minister, her office and her department, and they will help them.

That's because we are a government which brings in policies that make life better for people, and we do everything we can to implement them. That's as opposed to the last government, which did wonderful announcements and pretty good press releases, at times, but didn't implement anything. They didn't implement anything. I tell you what, if you want to find a minister who cares more about people than about herself and who works her fingers to the bone, then it's the Minister for Aged Care. Anyone who says differently—whose name might have an extra S in it—might look in the mirror and wonder what jealousy looks like, because then she will see it. The Albanese Labor government are doing what we can to address the cost-of-living issues that we inherited from nine years of wasted time, wasted spending and a lack of action.

In my electorate, my community saved $259,743.57 on PBS medicines in January and February of this year alone. That's $260,000 saved in my electorate, where there are pockets of some of the most disadvantaged people in Victoria, where chronic health problems are way above the state average and where we know how important it is to be able to access medicines. Since the Albanese government reduced the co-payment on 1 January of this year, more than 22,800 scripts in Dunkley have been cheaper. This makes medicines more affordable and accessible, it takes the sting out of the rising cost of living and it delivers better outcomes for people who are often in the most vulnerable position of their lives.

I put up a post on my Facebook page about cheaper medicines. Here's just one comment from Shaz:

soooo good… I'm on a lot of meds so it just makes life easier that it is so cheap to buy.

Elise wrote:

At a time when things are more expensive and cost of living is really tough, this is such a huge benefit.

Of course it is. And we are doing so much more to make medicines cheaper and more accessible.

I know how hard it is to remember to go and fill your script every 3½ weeks, when you can only get it once a month. I know what the Minister for Health and Aged Care says about medicine compliance being lowest at the time when you have to fill your scripts. I can't tell you the number of times I might have not been able to take my medicine for a day or two because I forgot to fill my script. I know the difference 60-day dispensing is going to make to vulnerable people who have chronic health conditions—not to mention the vulnerable people with chronic health conditions who are also struggling because they don't earn much money or they're on a pension. It is going to make the world of difference to those people. Those on the other side can come here with their rhetoric and their ranting and their made-up situations, but we on this side know that the measures we're putting in place are making life better for Australians. (Time expired)

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