Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Why is it important to make medicines cheaper for 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 Robertson for his question and also for hosting me and the member for Dobell last week along with Dr Ian Charlton, a great GP on the Central Coast, to announce the expressions of interest opening for the 14 urgent-care centres that we've promised to deliver this year in New South Wales. I also know just how hard the member for Robertson campaigned on a promise to deliver the people of the Central Coast cheaper medicines at the election last year.

We have delivered on that promise. In July we slashed the safety net threshold for millions of pensioners and concession card holders by 25 per cent so that now across a year, on average, pensioners and concession card holders will pay no more than $5 per week for all of their medicines needs, no matter how many medicines they take. In September we cut the price of more than 2,000 brands of medicine, delivering $130 million back into the pockets of hardworking Australians. In November, the Minister for Social Services delivered on our promise to give more self-funded retirees access to a seniors health card that would give them access to cheaper PBS medicines and bulk-billed GP visits. The Minister for Social Services has reported that, already, more than 10,000 self-funded retirees now have a seniors health card in their wallet who didn't have that before November. But the centrepiece of our cheaper medicines policy was delivered on 1 January, when we delivered the biggest cut to the price of PBS medicines in the 75-year history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—

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

The member for Bowman is on a warning. It is the last time he will be warned.

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

slashing the price of general patient scripts from $42.50 to just $30. I'm delighted to report that in just the first two months of our cheaper medicines policy we've delivered even greater savings than we predicted. The prices of more than 3.2 million scripts have already come down, delivering more than $36 million into the pockets of hardworking Australians.

This isn't just good for their hip pockets. As the member for Robertson well knows, this is good for their health. Every year, almost a million Australians defer or go without a script their doctor has said is important for their health, because they can't afford it. It's already making a big difference. Megan, who's in her early 30s, wrote to us saying: 'As a chronic pain sufferer, it's great to be able to get some savings on prescription medications. It's making a real difference to my household budget.' That's just one example of the millions of Australians who are benefitting from the Albanese government's cheaper medicines policy.