Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians know that they can trust the Labor Party and Labor governments with health care. After all, it was John Curtin and Ben Chifley who in 1944 introduced and fought for legislation to create the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which has now become a fundamental pillar of our healthcare system. And, of course, it was the Whitlam and Hawke governments that created Medicare. More than 40 years later, it remains the backbone of our health system. Both Medicare and the PBS are a source of national pride and envy around the world. It means that, when Australians fall sick, they can get help based on their Medicare card, not their credit card. This principle was the reason why Curtin and Chifley and Whitlam and Hawke pushed for accessible and universal health care. It is why the Albanese Labor government has made the biggest investment in Medicare in its 40-year history and why we're capping the cost of PBS listed medications at just $25 per script.

Let me be clear: health care is not a luxury. It is not something reserved for the fortunate few. Accessible and affordable universal health care is the foundation of a decent society. Access to medicines is an essential part of this. They help us get better quicker, keep workers on the job, get kids back to school, provide dignity and alleviate suffering. We know from international experience what happens when governments do not invest in health. In some countries, millions go without care because they cannot afford health insurance. Families choose food and basic necessities over health. They go into debt or bankruptcy because of a cancer diagnosis or a single serious accident. When health care is unaffordable, people delay treatment. They put off filling prescriptions, they live with pain or they let a manageable condition worsen. When that happens, costs to the system rise, productivity falls and lives are lost. It is both immoral and uneconomic. It is not the Labor way and it is not the Australian way. That is why we have said we will not negotiate on the PBS. That is why we are acting through this legislation, the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025.

We have introduced legislation to make cheaper medicines even cheaper. From 1 January next year, the maximum cost of a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will be no more than $25. To put that in perspective, the last time PBS medicines cost this little was in 2004. It was a different Australia back then. Nokia flip phones and early camera phones were all the rage and Delta Goodrem, the John Butler Trio and Shannon Noll were topping the charts. Ian Thorpe was winning gold for Australia and Facebook did not even exist. I was living in a share house, working at a cafe, driving to university in my Ford Telstar, listening to Beck and Queens of the Stone Age and avoiding university politics. They were simpler times. Since then, the cost of everything increased, particularly since the pandemic.

Before we came to government, inflation had a six in front of it; now it has a two in front of it. While we've brought inflation under control, we know Australians are still doing it tough, and that's why we're continuing to take measures like this to ease cost-of-living pressures. This reform ensures that Australians will not have to sacrifice their health. This reform represents a 20 per cent cut to the maximum price of PBS medicines. It will save Australians more than $200 million every single year. This is not an abstract number. This is a tangible, practical measure that puts money back into the pockets of working families. For a household managing multiple prescriptions every month, it means real relief. It means dignity. It means security.

Our reforms do not end here. For pensioners and concession card holders, PBS medicines will remain capped at just $7.70 until 2030, which means long-term security for those who need it most—older Australians, people on fixed incomes and families already doing it tough. It means certainty when planning their budgets, knowing that the cost of vital prescriptions will not be out of reach. It means peace of mind for those managing chronic conditions who cannot afford to miss a dose. For too long, older Australians have been treated as the forgotten child of our healthcare system. They are the ones who carry the heaviest burden of chronic disease, are prescribed multiple medications and feel the rising costs most sharply with each dollar having to stretch further. They built this nation. Yet, under the former government, they were too often left behind, forced to watch the healthcare system be neglected. With this reform, we are saying to older Australians, 'Your health matters, your dignity matters and you will not be forgotten.'

Importantly, pharmacies will continue to be able to discount PBS medicines, ensuring patients benefit from both government reform and competitive pricing. This means more Australians, no matter where they live, can walk into their local pharmacy and know they are getting a fair price for the medicines they need. I want to illustrate what this means in the real world. Imagine a single parent with two children. One of those children has asthma and requires regular medication to be able to breathe freely, get through the school week, participate in sport and play with their friends. The parent themselves might also rely on ongoing prescriptions—perhaps for blood pressure, diabetes or pain management. Between the child's asthma treatment and the parent's own medication, that household could easily be filling four or five prescriptions each and every month. Under this reform, the PBS co-payment will be reduced from $31.60 to $25 per script. That family will save between $315 and $400 every year. This is not spare change. That is money that be put towards keeping the lights on, paying for groceries or covering rent.

Take an older Australian living on a fixed income—perhaps a pensioner managing blood pressure, cholesterol, arthritis and diabetes. They might be filling half a dozen prescriptions every month. For them, every dollar saved at the pharmacy is a dollar that can go towards heating in the winter, fresh food on the table or a bus fare to see the grandkids. That is what Labor governments do. They deliver practical solutions that make daily life just that little bit easier for everyday Australians.

I'd like to tell you about an experience I had in the electorate I represent, Menzies, which really brought home to me how much the PBS can mean to people. It was during the election campaign, and I was out doorknocking in Surrey Hills. A woman answered the door, and we began chatting. As you know, not everyone gives political candidates the time of day, but she was kind enough to. She shared with me that her husband was suffering from cancer. She also shared that were it not for her husband's cancer drugs being listed on the PBS, they would be tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. She called her husband to the door, and I could see the effects of the disease on him. I could also see the care and love between them and the gratitude they had for being able to access affordable medicines. They did not have to worry about the cost of medication at one of the most difficult times in their lives. That is what the PBS means. It means care and dignity. The PBS means that people who work hard their whole lives do not need to fear losing their house or having their savings obliterated because of circumstances outside their control. It means that we, as a society, recognise that we should support those who fall on hard times. For residents of Menzies, this PBS cut will save more than $11 million, putting real money back into the pockets of families and easing cost-of-living pressures.

These reforms are not a once-off. They build on the great work the Minister for Health and Ageing has delivered since the last term, from cheaper medicines and bulk-billing incentives to strengthening Medicare and expanding access to vital treatments. In July 2022, concessional patients saw a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts required before reaching the PBS safety net. That meant people reached their safety net threshold later and saved more. In January 2023 we delivered the largest cut to medicine prices in the history of the PBS, lowering the maximum cost of a general script from $42.50 to $30. In September 2023 we introduced 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with ongoing health conditions. That meant fewer trips to the pharmacy, fewer GP visits just for repeat scripts and more money left in household pockets. From January next year, PBS co-payments will be frozen so that they do not rise with inflation. That is the Albanese Labor government's record. Step by step, reform by reform, we are delivering practical change that Australians can see, feel and rely upon to ease today's pressures and secure a better tomorrow.

Contrast this with nine years of neglect from those opposite, where costs were left unaddressed, where Medicare was undermined and where no vision was offered for strengthening the PBS. Instead of investing in the health system, they froze Medicare rebates, forcing up out-of-pocket costs for families and pushing more people to delay or skip care. This left patients without affordable access even when safe and effective treatments were available. Despite the coalition's promises, thousands of Australians still skipped filling prescriptions because of cost pressures, especially concession card holders and those in rural areas. The coalition failed to invest in Medicare. They failed to invest in the PBS. They treated it as a burden to be managed rather than a system to be strengthened and modernised.

We are committed to the PBS, and, as a progressive government, we know it can always be strengthened. Australians know this and they feel it every day. They feel it when the cost of filling their scripts stretches their budgets, when life-saving medicines take years to be listed and when essential treatments are caught up in delays and red tape. That is the effect of coalition policies. For too many families, nine years of neglect meant waiting in pain and uncertainty, hoping the medicines they needed would finally become affordable and available through the PBS under the coalition.

Let us be clear. The government is delivering. The Albanese Labor government is committed to cost-of-living relief. We are committed to fairness, and we are committed to strengthening Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, pillars of Australian life that those opposite neglected for nine long years and would undermine again if given the chance. We said we would make medicines cheaper, and that is exactly what we are doing. We will not stop there. We will keep building a healthcare system that is universal, affordable and fair. We will keep investing in doctors, nurses, pharmacists and health workers, who are the backbone of our system. We have made the largest investment in Medicare in its 40-year history. We have tripled the GP co-payment, and we know that this will work because we have already tripled the co-payment for seniors and for children. We know expanding this out to the wider population will continue to increase bulk-billing rates. We will keep delivering for pensioners, families, workers and every Australian who relies on Medicare and the PBS.

We have said that we will always stand by the PBS, that it is not up for compromise and that it is a national institution that we can be proud of. This is what we mean when we say progressive patriotism: we are proud to be a government in a country that is always seeking to make sure that, while we become more wealthy and build the prosperity of Australia, we are not leaving anyone behind. Like Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam and Hawke understood, a healthy nation is a fair nation. Without our health, we cannot be effective workers. We cannot be effective parents. We cannot be effective family members. We cannot be effective carers. We cannot fully participate in our community and in our great nation. It is the Labor way to make sure that the fundamental needs of people are taken care of and that we have a social safety net. A part of that is having a universal healthcare system where health care is accessible and affordable and where medicines are always there to make sure that people can get the life-saving treatments they need. That is the Labor way. That is our promise for the future.

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