Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No worries, Senator O'Sullivan. You don't want to talk about cost of living, and I get that, because the government is making sure that we are delivering cost-of-living relief to all Australians, especially with a tax cut on 1 July to every single taxpayer. But you did ask some questions about an important issue, which is the supply chain of IV. In the responses I think we're going to receive today and in the questions themselves that were asked, there are a lot of mistruths and some misleading going on. I take Senator Hughes's contribution, but I respond in this way: our government is working very carefully on this issue, and we have been since April. The TGA has been working on this issue. What I will do is take advice from doctors. I won't take advice from Senator Hughes about health care. I think that would be a very poor decision on my part and on the part of the community. What I will do—and what the government does—is listen to doctors and work with them, and that is what I encourage the community to do.

Senator Hughes might like to know that the AMA has responded to this issue and has provided some very clear advice not just to the government but also to the community and perhaps also to senators opposite who want to worry people, spread mistruths and make people concerned about this issue spreading to other drugs or other vital medicines. AMA President Steve Robson—and I really draw the Senate's attention to his words—said this:

The cross-jurisdictional response group established by Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler is meeting frequently to share data; co-ordinate action on IV fluid usage and supply; establish forecasts for future needs; discuss logistics and issue clinical guidance and updates to our front-line healthcare workers.

This effort should be comforting for Australian patients, no matter where they live, or where they are being treated.

That is the information given by the President of the AMA, doctors and those in health care. What I would ask those opposite to do is not to mislead Australians about the work that is being undertaken on this critical issue. What I want to ask those opposite to do is not to use this parliament as an opportunity to litigate some sort of interrogation of things that are underway—that are happening and are being dealt with—in a way that alarms people out in the community. That is what they are seeking to do.

We talk about this issue being 'notified' and being aware of this issue. The TGA, since April last year, has taken a number of actions, and this is important information for those opposite who, we know, are intending on saying that nothing is being done. We know that, from April 2023, approvals of overseas-registered alternative products were made. Work is being done with the Office of Supply Chain Resilience to ensure no delays in shipping and unloading containers at Australian docks. We're asking product sponsors for any regulatory actions that will assist in increasing supplies, and we're increasing the national coordination on monitoring of supply.

Of course, all of this is an important issue that raises the importance of medical manufacturing. That's why our government made sure that the National Reconstruction Fund had a focus on medical manufacturing, but those opposite, in nine years in government, did nothing to help the manufacturing sector and did nothing to help the medical manufacturing sector. Whether it was during the COVID pandemic or not, they did absolutely nothing. They hate manufacturing, whether it's medical manufacturing or any other type. So to come in here and complain now about supply chains to a government that is committed to the National Reconstruction Fund and supply chains of those medicines is ridiculous. We know that they hate manufacturing. They voted against the National Reconstruction Fund even when it had medical manufacturing as a key element—