Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

In continuing my remarks, I acknowledge the origin of this bill, that being the Senate Community Affairs References Committee's inquiry into the impact of transvaginal mesh on women in Australia. I offer once again my heartfelt acknowledgement and commitment to the community that gave evidence before that inquiry. It takes an incredible amount of strength and emotional energy to come before a Senate committee and share your experiences of such horrific medical harm from these devices. Yet people did that, families did that, mothers did that in the hope that it would result in legislative change that would ensure that no such travesty was ever again inflicted upon members of the Australian community, that nobody ever again went in for a medical device to deal with something as simple as incontinence and came out with something inside them that caused them a lifetime of pain. I want to thank all those who gave evidence to that inquiry and commit myself and the Greens movement to working with you until every single one of those recommendations is fully implemented.

In contributing to this legislation, I also want to foreshadow that there will be a couple of other second reading amendments that we will be moving. One will be moved by my colleague and dear friend Janet Rice, and that amendment will be in relation to blood donation. This motion will be moved by Janet on behalf of the Australian Greens as a second reading amendment to this TGA legislation. If it's successful, our amendment will see the TGA bring equality to blood donation laws. It will remove barriers to gay and bisexual men, transwomen and some non-binary people who have sex with men from donating blood. Specifically, the Greens are calling on the TGA to replace the current approach of population-based risk assessment and the three-month deferral period with an approach that is based on an individualised risk assessment. This is not a radical idea. This is something that has been done in the UK, and the evidence fully supports it.

This amendment is in solidarity with the Let Us Give campaign. It responds to the need for more plasma and more whole-of-blood across the entire country. I want to acknowledge, and I want to thank, the campaigners who are part of that campaign who are doing incredible work in this space to make sure that we get rid of the discriminatory practices that currently exist in this space and replace them with an individualised system based on equality.

We must stop discriminating against those who give blood. We must look at the evidence and go with the science. The reality is that there is no increased risk to allowing this group to donate blood following an individual risk assessment. It is time to ensure that all Australians are able to donate equally. It is also time to recognise the decades we have taken to make this change. The barriers, ultimately, weren't the science. The science was the excuse for the discrimination. This is something the community has always known. They've always known the reality of this. But we come to this space in 2023 with a government still dragging its heel, and that is proof positive that this is the case. We've got to end that discrimination and allow people to donate equally.

The second amendment, which will be moved by myself on behalf of the Australian Greens, relates to medicinal cannabis. We will be seeking to move the second reading amendment in recognition that, while medicinal cannabis is legal in this country, too many people cannot afford to access it. Particularly, this amendment relates to the TGA's role in ensuring that patients who require medicinal cannabis for therapeutic use are able to access it.

This amendment asks the Senate to recognise the findings of the Community Affairs Committee inquiry into the barriers to patient access for medicinal cannabis in Australia. This report was released in 2020, with many recommendations yet to be implemented. I'll quote directly from the report from former Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale, who worked on the inquiry:

During that inquiry the parliament heard from patients across the country who are unable to access the medicinal cannabis treatments they need due to regulatory barriers and enormous cost. Cost is a hugely prohibitive factor for patients needing access to medicinal cannabis; they just can't afford it. Although the government has said, 'Look, we accept that it has therapeutic benefits and we will allow it to be placed on the register,' the cost is still so high that the people who need it just can't get it. It is completely unacceptable that people can be out of pocket thousands of dollars when trying to access legal medicinal cannabis products through a regulated system when the black market is far cheaper.

Three years on from this report, nothing has changed. People still cannot access medicinal cannabis and they are still unfairly punished when they try to do so.

We have the experts, the majority of the public and the clear findings of the Senate committee itself saying, 'We need to take action.' The system at the moment is broken, and it is the patients who are paying the price. This is what this amendment seeks to address. The Greens encourage the Senate to work in line with the community need, the clear evidence provided to this place, and to support this amendment. In relation to the medicinal cannabis amendment, I move:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) in 2020 the Community Affairs References Committee, as part of its inquiry into current barriers to patient access to medicinal cannabis in Australia, examined the difficulties for patients in accessing medicinal cannabis through current pathways and regulatory schemes, as well as the substantial barrier of cost to patients; and

(ii) the committee made various recommendations to the Government aimed at improving access to medicinal cannabis, but not all of these recommendations have been accepted or implemented; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) ensure that affordable medicinal cannabis products are available to all patients who require them for therapeutic use; and

(ii) consider and implement the outstanding recommendations from the Community Affairs References Committee inquiry".