Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

This notion that there is some link between this bill and the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement is nonsense. There is no conspiracy; indeed, there is no link. The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement does not impact on the ability of the government to set domestic policy on the pricing and listing processes of the PBS; that is a fact. The changes to the PBS effected through PBS reform are clearly a matter of domestic policy and were designed to create budgetary headroom for the listing of new medicines and to increase the transparency of the marketing arrangements used by companies when medicines are subject to competition. I was listening to the second reading debate earlier today. Labor Party senators all agreed that this bill was necessary. Why? Because it actually strengthens the PBS system and allows budgetary headroom for more drugs to be listed.