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

On behalf of Senator Ruston, who is unable to be with us today, I'll deliver a coalition contribution in relation to the National Health Amendment (Effect of Prosecution—Approved Pharmacist Corporations) Bill 2023. The opposition will be supporting this bill, as it provides greater protection for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from fraud and abuse, and we've always been strong supporters of the access to affordable medicines that the PBS provides to Australians and Australian households. We know that ensuring continued and improved access to affordable medicines is now more important than ever, with the cost of living continuing to put significant and rising pressure on Australians.

The National Health Amendment (Effect of Prosecution—Approved Pharmacist Corporations) Bill 2023 amends the National Health Act 1953 to support the sustainability and the operation of the PBS. The bill extends the discretionary power of the secretary and the Minister for Health and Aged Care to suspend or to revoke an approval for a pharmacist to supply pharmaceutical benefits at particular premises, irrespective of whether the approval is held by an individual or under a company structure, where they've been charged with a PBS related offence.

By way of background, where a pharmacist has been approved to supply pharmaceutical benefits at particular premises, the approved pharmacist can then make claims for payment from the Commonwealth in relation to the supply of pharmaceutical benefits, and the approval to supply pharmaceutical benefits can be held by a pharmacist as an individual or by a body corporate. However, the power to suspend or revoke an approval currently only applies to an approved pharmacist who is an individual. If a pharmacist operates under a company structure and they are charged with a PBS related offence, there is no ability for their approval to be suspended or to be revoked. This means, for example, that, if the director of an approved pharmacist corporation is charged with a PBS related offence, they can continue to receive payments from the Commonwealth—despite being charged for fraudulently claiming payments.

We understand the importance of the change contained in this bill, which will help to ensure the sustainability of the PBS by strengthening the compliance powers and ensuring that they are equally applicable to all types of approved pharmacists. This will better protect the PBS from further fraud and will provide greater deterrence to those who would seek to abuse the scheme.

The coalition has always been a strong supporter of the PBS, which ensures Australians have affordable access to critical medicines and will support this bill that protects the sustainability and integrity of this important scheme. We remain absolutely committed to supporting Australians to have access to affordable medicines when they need them most. We are proud of our strong track record in providing Australians with timely and affordable access to effective medicines, cancer treatments and services. When last in government, the coalition listed almost 3,000 new and amended medicines on the PBS, representing an average of around 30 listings per month. But we know that when Labor were last in government they had to stop listing the medicines on the PBS because they couldn't manage the money needed to fund these listings.

The government has stated that the measures contained in this bill support the integrity of public funds and ensure that they can be invested in access to new and improved medicines, and we will hold them to account on this. It's vital that they continue our strong track record on investing in improved access to affordable medicines for all Australians. However, we already hold concerns that this government is not prioritising investments in improved access to potentially life-saving or life-changing medicines, particularly following their decision to remove an innovative diabetes medicine, Fiasp, from the PBS. Now 15,000 families have had the rug pulled out from under them by this Labor government's decision to remove this life-changing diabetes insulin from the PBS, which will send the price soaring once it's off the scheme.

The former coalition government ensured that diabetes patients have affordable access to Fiasp by listing this fast-acting insulin on the PBS back in the year 2019. We understood that Fiasp is an innovative mealtime insulin that improves blood sugar, controlled at a faster rate than other diabetes medications, resulting in an improved quality of life for patients. We note Minister Butler's band-aid announcement to ensure diabetes patients have access to Fiasp for an additional six months if they are able to secure a script in time to cover them by 1 April. But the minister needs to be transparent with Australian diabetes patients and admit whether he has actually considered all possible steps to ensure Fiasp can remain permanently on the PBS, because we know Minister Butler has the power to come to a solution with the manufacturer, but sadly it appears he has not chosen to use that discretion.

The government needs to understand that this callous decision will tear away at the quality of life that this medicine affords over 15,000 people and their families across Australia. Labor went to the election with a promise to ensure cheaper medicines for all Australians, but this decision means that they've already broken that promise. For all their posturing on their promises, Labor shows time and again that their rhetoric in opposition is not matched by their actions in government. It is costing Australians' lives and livelihoods.

The decision to break their promise on affordable medicines comes on top of a growing list of broken promises from this government, including their promise to bring down power prices by $275, a promise made on 97 occasions. They also promised they wouldn't make changes to superannuation taxes, but one in 10 Australians will be affected by the changes they have now announced. It is clear that this is just the groundwork for more taxes and more changes to come. Labor promised to strengthen Medicare, but so far they have only weakened it. They slashed Medicare mental health support in half, they have cut 70 telehealth items from Medicare, and bulk billing rates have plummeted after being at their highest levels when the coalition was in government. Labor said they would make it easier to see a GP, but they have ripped GPs out of rural, regional and remote Australia by changing the distribution priority areas.

Labor promised cost-of-living relief, but the reality is life is only getting harder for Australians. Right now, to borrow a phrase from those opposite, everything is going up except for wages. Australians with a mortgage now buckle under the pressure of a 10th consecutive interest rate rise, which means a person with a typical mortgage of $750,000 is now paying $1,700 more per month than they were when rates started rising in May. Electricity prices are continuing to spiral out of control, with new increases of up to 23.7 per cent for households and 25.7 per cent for small businesses now announced. More than 100,000 small businesses will also be impacted by increased bills of up to $1,151 a year. It is these rising cost-of-living pressures on Australians, and indeed the cost of doing business in this country, that make access to affordable medicines so critical right now.

Once again, the coalition strongly supports this bill to support the sustainability and the operation of the PBS, which provides Australians with affordable access to potentially life-saving and life-changing medicines. However, we'll continue to ensure that we hold the Albanese Labor government to account on investing in and maintaining continued and improved access to affordable medicines, particularly in the midst of this cost-of-living crisis.