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

I relish yet another opportunity to talk about this government's commitment to cheaper medicines. We went to the election last year promising to deliver cheaper medicines to millions of Australian patients. In July last year we managed to cut the safety net for millions of pensioners by 25 per cent. The maximum amount pensioners will pay for all of their medicine needs across the year is now only $5.05 per week. We cut the price of 2,000 brands of medicine in September, delivering $130 million back into the pockets of hardworking Australian patients. And, as I might have said once or twice at this dispatch box, on 1 January we delivered the biggest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS.

We know there is more to do, which is why we accepted advice from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee that had lain on the table for five years to allow 60-day dispensing of medicines for chronic disease. That's very common across all of the countries to which we usually compare ourselves. These are medicines that people are on for years and years, if not decades.

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