Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

tor CAROL BROWN (—) (): I'd like to, firstly, congratulate Senator Payman on what was an excellent contribution and also congratulate her on the work that she's doing in her great state of Western Australia. It's not as good as Tasmania but you can't have everything! This MPI that we are discussing today is about the Albanese government halving the cost of medicines for around six million Australians. The government supports affordable medicines, and the opposition, through this motion, is more interested in scare campaigns. The Albanese government understands that many Australians are doing it tough. That is why we are determined to take the pressure off household budgets wherever we can and that is why we're making medicines cheaper for millions of Australians. On 1 January, for the first time in the 75-year history of the PBS, the general co-payment was reduced from $42.50 to $30. In the first three months of this year, 5.1 million prescriptions have been cheaper, saving Australians more than $58 million. For Tasmanians, that is over 185,000 cheaper scripts and over $2 million saved. That is money that's in your pockets to help ease the cost-of-living pressures.

In this budget, we've gone further. The budget includes a measure that will allow millions of Australians to buy two months worth of medicine—for the price of a single prescription—for hundreds of common conditions. From 1 September this year, with a staged implementation, general patients will be able to save up to $180 a year if their medicine is able to be prescribed for 60 days—$180 a year. After a decade of inaction by the previous government, Labor is making medicines cheaper for Australians, and that's why this policy has been welcomed. Let's have a look at some of the organisations that have welcomed this policy: Arthritis Australia, Diabetes Australia, the Heart Foundation, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the National Rural Health Alliance, the Rural Doctors Association, the Council on the Ageing and the Breast Cancer Network.

The Australian Medical Association says this policy is 'a win for patients' that 'should lead to better medicine adherence and ultimately better health outcomes, with reduced pressure on the health system'—not like what is being peddled here in this motion. The president of the College of General Practitioners said:

This change has been recommended because it is in the best interests of patients, and I am pleased that the Government has heeded the expert advice.

The policy has been welcomed by the Consumers Health Forum, who have said that the policy 'shows the government is listening' to health consumers and that 'every dollar saved at the pharmacy is money that can be spent on groceries or rent'. There we have it. We have the AMA, the College of General Practitioners, the Consumers Health Forum and so many other organisations welcoming this policy. We know that making medicines cheaper is good for the hip pockets of Australians, but it's also good for their health. That's not me saying it; the AMA is saying it and other organisations are saying it. In Tasmania, I know that these changes will make a significant difference to so many.