Alex Somlyay (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

For nearly 60 years, the Australian government’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has provided all Australians with reliable and timely access to the medicines they need, at a cost that individuals and the community can afford. Not only has the PBS scheme served Australians well over those 60 years but it has also proved itself to be one of the best drug subsidy systems in the world. We should be proud of that. We should be proud of this program. It is a scheme that has served Australians well under both Liberal and Labor governments. The problem is not its effectiveness or the benefit it gives all Australians: the problem is its cost. It is a very expensive program. It is an uncapped program, and its cost has been spiralling recently at an increasing rate. This concern about cost is not a new issue. I can remember the debate going on in 1971-72, when I was working as an economist in the health department. The Labor Party, in opposition, were proposing that in government they would buy a drug company and, through price competition, would force down the price of pharmaceuticals in Australia. It was my job to write a report saying why that would not work. Anyway, Labor were elected to government. They promptly took my report, changed the recommendations and went ahead and bought a drug company called Fawnmac, which was used to try to reduce the price of pharmaceuticals. The Fraser government then came in and used my report to sell the company. So this issue is not new.

See this speech in context