Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his second supplementary question. Of course, I am not going to comment on budget considerations; they are matters that the Treasurer could answer. It is important to note, when we then look at the considerations, that the Minister for Health has done an extraordinary amount of work in this area to bring on medicines that can change people's lives. As I mentioned earlier in my response to the primary question, the one dealing with chronic nerve pain has been listed. It is one of those areas where price increases for nine PBS listed medicines were announced at that time. New listings have continued to be announced. On 24 October 2012 a number of new, amended and extended listings of PBS which will treat serious conditions—