Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the coalition, I am pleased to rise to state the coalition's position relating to the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2022. I'm pleased to say at the outset that the coalition will be supporting this bill. The Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill amends the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Act 2016 to support the Commonwealth's effective recovery of the costs associated with regulating Australia's medical cannabis industry, including the costs of administration and monitoring and assessment of compliance, and to provide greater flexibility for regulations to prescribe the charges imposed on licence holders under the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967.

The Narcotics Drugs Act was amended in 2021 when the coalition was in government to simplify the medicinal cannabis licensing framework by implementing a single licence structure to replace the original three-licence structure that existed under the act. This bill revises the existing licence fees and charges to better align them with the new licence framework that was introduced.

An independent review of the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 was commissioned by the coalition and undertaken by Professor John McMillan AO in the year 2019. It's known as the McMillan review. That review resulted in 26 recommendations to amend and improve the medicinal cannabis licensing and permits framework in Australia. The coalition in government agreed in principle to adopt all 26 recommendations of the McMillan review. This included recommendations to introduce a single licence model for medicinal cannabis regulation, replacing the previous three-licence model to simplify the related permits regime. Amendments under the coalition government to the narcotics drugs legislation regime commenced on 24 December, Christmas Eve, of the year 2021 to implement recommendations from the McMillan review.

As a result of the introduction of the simplified licence structure, changes to the fees and charges framework are now necessary to align it with this new structure. As I have already stated, the coalition supports this bill. These changes were flagged by the McMillan review, which stated that the simplified licence structure meant the scale of fees and charges would need to be tailored to the range of activities encompassed by a particular application and licence. The activities relating to the administration of medicinal cannabis regulatory schemes are funded through cost-recovery arrangements which are consistent with the Australian government's charging framework.

It is important to have a consistent policy when it comes to safeguards around medicines and the role of regulation. We do know that in the past there have been votes in this place where safeguards were proposed to be removed. They are worrying signs, and it is something we need to guard against. The PBS is vital to our country and deferrals of listings are something that we should seek to avoid. A healthy functioning economy paves the way, as we know, to list more medicines on the PBS.

We have already seen the ending of free rapid antigen tests for concession cardholders and the delayed backflip on the cutting of pandemic leave disaster payments. The impact of the removal of services, such as telehealth consultations, and issues relating to cost-of-living pressures are something that we need to be vigilant of. As the opposition, we'll remain vigilant on these issues and ensure that these services continue to be provided and made available for Australians. I commend the bill to the Senate.