Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since being elected, the Albanese Labor government has focused on delivering the positive change Australians voted for. I know and we all know there is a lot of work to be done to ease the pressure on families and to help Australians manage their budgets. From 1 January, for the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of the general scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the PBS, will fall from $42.50 to $30. I am a prime example of someone who would benefit from this. I am a chronic asthmatic and have been most of my life. I was on the minimum wage for 15, 16 years. Being a chronic asthmatic, the medication was extremely expensive. I have to take about four puffs a day, so I used to cut it down to two because I couldn't afford it. Now people like me, people like my family, can now afford it thanks to the Albanese Labor government. This change fills the government's election promise to deliver cheaper medicines to ease the cost of living for Australians. The Albanese Labor government is making medicines cheaper. For the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of a script on the PBS scheme has fallen. I went to a pharmacy last week in my electorate of Holt. The pharmacist said how happy he was that the scheme had come into play. He has seen more people coming to fill scripts and getting their medication, which is fantastic.

Labor are cutting the cost of scripts by 29 per cent, with the maximum cost to drop by $12.50. It doesn't sound like a lot but, let me tell you, for those living on the minimum wage for a long time, $12.50 is a lot of money. That money can be put into other things in the household such as groceries. This will save someone taking medication up to $150 per year or a family using two or more medications up to $450, so that is really good. I thank the Albanese Labor government for looking after all Australians.

The ABS advised that the high cost of medications meant that close to one million Australians delayed or didn't fill their medications in 2019 and 2020. Cutting the price by nearly one-third will mean more people will be able to get the medications they need to stay healthy without worrying so much about the price. This change will put close to $200 million back in the pockets of Australians each year. Approximately 19 million Australians are eligible to benefit from this change. That means that a lot of people who live in my electorate who are finding it hard will get a lot of advantage from this scheme.

School leavers and people in Holt wanting to retrain and upskill and stay in the workforce are encouraged to enrol in more than 55,000 fee-free TAFE and VET places on offer in Victoria in 2023. I was a TAFE student. I went to William Angliss Institute. I remember it cost me so much money. Being a chef, I needed tools, a uniform and to cover the cost of going to TAFE. I remember working at Woolworths, doing 30 hours a week, and all that money would go into my TAFE course. This is really, really good, because people in Holt and all the young school leavers in Holt will be able to afford to do this because the government has made it possible. The fee-free places are available following the recent agreement between the Albanese Labor government and the Victorian government to address the current skills shortage. The more than $250 million agreement is expected to deliver a significant boost to the Victorian skills and training sector. This investment will support around 26,900 places in the care sector over the next 12 months, including around 3,800 early childhood education and care places. Thank you, Albanese Labor government for looking after people like me, my family and the people of Holt.