Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To begin with, I do need to address some of the comments made by the member for Macpherson. I challenge the idea that consistent performance on the part of the coalition has been there in relation to the defence of the PBS and the defence of public health. Only the Labor Party has consistently defended public health and consistently defended the PBS. In fact, we introduced the PBS. I think it's important that we recognise that the Australian public likewise understands and believes in the Australian Labor Party's commitment to public health. That's why we were backed in at the last election.

I support the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 because it reinforces the Albanese government's record of making cheaper medicines even cheaper. It delivers on a commitment we made before the 2025 election. Specifically, this bill reduces the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general patient co-payment from $31.60 to $25 from 1 January next year. The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was more than two decades ago, in 2004, and a lot has happened in those 21 years. It's sobering to realise that 2004 was the year that a young Harvard university student Mark Zuckerberg first launched an idea he called 'the Facebook' from his dormitory. The launch of the iPhone was still three years away. 2004 was the year that the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement was signed, Jetstar took its first flight, Ian Thorpe led Australia's record gold medal tally at the Athens Olympics and Tasmania's Mary Donaldson married Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Remarkably, it was also the year my colleague in the upper house, Senator Charlotte Walker, was born. Surely that can't be true, and it makes us all feel very old!

By making cheaper medicines even cheaper, Labor is further easing the cost-of-living challenges facing so many Australians. This cut of more than 20 per cent to the maximum cost of PBS medicines will save Australians over $200 million each year. Importantly, it builds on other action we have taken over the past three years to deliver cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines. This includes the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a general script falling from $42.50 to $30, a change that has already saved patients over $770 million; a 25 per cent reduction in the scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS safety net kicks in, delivering 73 million additional free scripts and saving pensioners over half a billion dollars; 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with ongoing health conditions; and freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments, for the first time in 25 years, not rising with inflation. Overall, since winning government in 2022, Labor's cheaper medicines initiatives have saved people in Whitlam a substantial $12.6 million.

It is important to point out that pensioners and concession card holders will continue to benefit from the freeze to the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at the current level of $7.7 until 2030. Also, all medicines that pharmacies are able to discount today can continue to be discounted even when the co-payment is cut to $25. Like the battle to establish Medicare, which was introduced as Medibank by the Whitlam government in 1975 and was eroded and then dissolved entirely by the 1981 Fraser government before being reinstated as the Medicare we know today by the Hawke government in 1984, the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme involves Labor governments fighting for equitable access for ordinary Australians.

Eighty-one years ago, towards the end of World War II, John Curtin's government introduced legislation for a pharmaceutical benefits scheme. The main driver was for all Australians—not just the few who could afford them—to have access to the growing number of wonderful antibiotic drugs. The proposed legislation provided that any Australian resident would be entitled to be given medicine at no charge if they presented to a pharmacist a prescription written by a registered medical practitioner on an official government form. The pharmacist would be reimbursed by the government. An expert committee would determine a list of approved medications to ensure quality and effectiveness. It sounds like an excellent idea, right? However, doctors strongly opposed the scheme, and so did Labor's conservative political opponents. The doctors feared the legislation was part of a broader government agenda to interfere with their work and curb their pricing power. Interestingly, the organisation that represented Australian doctors at the time was called the British Medical Association. The body did not become the Australian Medical Association until 1962.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Act 1944 was passed by parliament, and the list of approved medications was printed. But, in 1945, the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association challenged the legislation in the High Court of Australia. The doctors argued that the Commonwealth did not have the power to spend money on the provision of medicines, and the High Court agreed. This High Court decision prompted a referendum in 1946 to amend the Constitution to allow for Commonwealth provision of pharmaceutical benefits, among other things. The referendum was passed, making it one of only eight successful referendums of the 45 that have been put to Australians since Federation.

John Curtin died at the Lodge while in office in July 1945, and Ben Chifley led Labor to re-election in 1946. So it was Chifley's government that, following the 1946 referendum, introduced an amended Pharmaceutical Benefits Act in 1947. But the British Medical Association continued its campaign against it. They did offer to allow a limited range of drugs to be prescribed under the PBS, but the government rejected that offer. Furthermore, the government decided to impose fines on doctors who didn't use official prescription forms. The doctors challenged this in the High Court, and they were successful once again. The British Medical Association estimated that, in 1949, five years after the Curtin government's first attempt to introduce a pharmaceutical benefits scheme, only 157 out of 7,000 practising Australian doctors ever cooperated with it. Australian doctors, unfortunately, had successfully torpedoed Labor's efforts to introduce a PBS.

Labor lost the 1949 election, and the new Menzies government settled for a reduced, safety-net PBS, which recognised a limited number of life-saving and disease-preventing drugs. However, the development of an increasing number of new drugs introduced in the 1950s meant that this was clearly inadequate. In 1960, 16 years after Curtin introduced the concept, the PBS finally became a comprehensive scheme. It included a patient contribution, or co-payment, of five shillings, or 50c in today's decimal language.

I believe that John Curtin, the original proponent of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, would be proud of the Albanese Labor government's achievements in ensuring Australians have equitable access to medicines. And this is only one element of this government's focus on the health of all Australians, particularly through strengthening Medicare. The achievements of the Albanese government's first term include tripling the bulk-billing incentive so that people who need to see their GP most often can—pensioners, concession card holders and families with children; restoring bulk-billing for 11 million Australians, creating an additional six million bulk-billed GP visits; opening 87 bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinics, making it easier for Australians to get the urgent treatment they need free of charge while taking pressure off our hospitals; establishing a network of 61 free Medicare mental health centres; establishing 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics to help Australian women with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome get the care they need; and boosting hospital funding by $1.7 billion, delivering more money for public hospitals in every state and territory.

Following these achievements in health during its first term, the re-elected Albanese government has committed to further benefitting the health of Australians by delivering an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits every year so that Australians can see a bulk-billing GP. This is the single largest investment in Medicare's history. We're opening 50 more Medicare urgent care clinics—including a clinic in Shellharbour, in my electorate of Whitlam—in addition to the 87 opened in our first term, meaning that four out of five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive from a Medicare urgent care clinic.

We're growing the health workforce to deliver more doctors and nurses than ever before, with the largest GP training program in Australia's history and hundreds of scholarships for nurses and midwives to extend their skills and qualifications. We're investing more than $790 million in women's health, including making contraceptives cheaper and funding more treatments for menopause. We're opening an additional 11 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, bringing the total to 33, and extending their focus to also provide specialist support for menopause and perimenopause. We're investing in free mental health support for Australian parents through another eight perinatal mental health centres around the country. We're backing men's health, including investing $20.7 million for grassroots initiatives in community settings and taking pressure off hospitals with the launch of 1800MEDICARE, a free nationwide 24/7 health service line that provides after-hours advice and an after-hours GP telehealth service.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a key component of the Commonwealth's investment in Australia's health system. The Albanese Labor government has shown its commitment to this system by investing $23.5 billion to strengthen Medicare since its 2022-23 budget. The National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill delivers on a commitment we made prior to the 2025 election. It builds on our earlier actions to deliver cheaper medicines and help ease cost-of-living challenges, and it contributes to further strengthening Medicare. That benefits all Australians.

Making medicines cheaper is a tangible way we are helping with the cost of living. In my work with community organisations and in my electorate, I see the impact that health expenses can have on individuals and families. When I was the CEO of the Illawarra Women's Health Centre, in particular, I met many women, particularly older women, who were struggling with the cost of medicines. When speaking with people within my electorate of Whitlam, I know how much of a difference reducing the costs of medicines can make. Australians are understandably proud of the PBS, and we're prepared to defend it. It is a very practical way that Labor is delivering on reducing the cost of living, particularly for those who need it the most. Under these changes, four out of five PBS medicines will become cheaper because of our government's $689 million investment.

To recap, this bill builds on action we've already taken to deliver cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines, including more free and cheaper medicines sooner, with a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS safety net kicks in; the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a general script falling to $30 from $42.50; 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with an ongoing health condition; and freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments for all Australians not rising with inflation for the first time in 25 years. Importantly, all medicines that pharmacies can discount today can continue to be discounted once the co-payment is cut to $25. The legislation includes specific provisions to protect the availability of discounting.

Cheaper medicines are good for the hip pocket of Australians and good for their health. Through this bill, the Albanese government is delivering cheaper medicines and a stronger Medicare, and I commend this bill to the House.

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