Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for another great question. We're building on our investments in Medicare, which is all about people being able to see their GP and have Medicare support them while they do that—so get to Medicare without out-of-pocket expenses.

Under our government we've also made a number of reforms to make medicines cheaper. Under our government people now pay no more than $31.60 for medicines on the PBS, and in our first three months of governing we slashed the maximum amount that millions of pensioners would pay for their medicines each year by 25 per cent. In our first 12 months, we delivered the biggest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS. So, the biggest investments in Medicare, biggest investment in the PBS, and we're seeing now that people are getting access to cheaper medicines, they're getting access to 60-day supply where it's needed, and in this budget we have also made sure that PBS medicines remain affordable.