Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. How is the Albanese Labor government strengthening Medicare after previous neglect, and how is the government delivering better health care for all Australians?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to 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.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're kidding me!

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

We said we'd address rural workforce shortages, and we delivered a $185 million rural workforce package in the budget in October.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Nationals will cease interjecting or will leave the chamber.

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

We said we would fund comprehensive cancer centres in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, and we've delivered. We said we'd address gaps in hearing services for children in Tasmania and New South Wales, and we've delivered. Yesterday, after 10 years of nothing happening, I announced this government's intention to make us a world leader again on tobacco control and to finally start the fight against vaping. There is still so much to do, but we are already delivering on our promise to strengthen Medicare and to cut the price of medicines.