Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The government recognise—and I think this is an important point to make—that cancer is the leading burden of disease in Australia. The government are committed to tackling cancer and reducing its burden on Australian families. We said that this measure was to commence on 1 July 2009, with the resulting savings, but the implementation measure will be delayed briefly beyond 1 September. The government will provide a further update on our implementation plans in the near future to ensure that there is certainty for those people in the community who are affected by this. It is important to ensure that there is consultation with stakeholders so that we can be sure that these issues are well dealt with. One of the medicines, Avastin, was listed on the PBS from 1 July— (Time expired)