Basem Abdo (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Whitlam for her contribution, and I'm proud to stand alongside her in support of this bill, which does precisely what it says. It delivers cheaper medicines—a simple, principled objective to be delivered by the Albanese Labor government. It's a simple, effective proposition: Australians will no longer have to pay more than $25 for any medicine on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Let's unpack that. For the first time in over two decades, essential medicines will be capped at $25 a script. Last time this was the case was in the early 2000s, back when we were all glued to our soapbox, watching Kath and Kim, and Anthony Albanese was busy campaigning for the return of his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs to the NRL. Times have changed, but the inherent value of affordable medicines has most certainly not. This is cost-of-living relief that matters to every Australian household—relief that shows once again that, when Labor are in government, we put the health and dignity of Australians first.

I want to touch on the scale of our reforms. This bill, the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill, reduces the PBS general patient co-payment from $31.60—an already reduced cost, again thanks to the Albanese Labor government—down to $25 from 1 January next year. This is a cut of more than 20 per cent to the maximum cost of PBS medicines. It will save Australians over $200 million every single year. As of 31 July, people in my electorate of Calwell had saved over $8.9 million, thanks to our already legislated cheaper medicines policy. And there is still more to do. Four out of five PBS medicines will become cheaper because of this government's $689 million investment. This will have a direct and significant impact on the quality of life of millions of Australians who rely on medications to maintain their health.

We should never underestimate the impact of providing cheaper, accessible medication to those in our community that need it. It's not just the individuals who rely on these medications that are beneficiaries; it is their families and communities who also benefit when those in need of medication can access it when they need it.

When we look around the world and we see the sorts of challenges other countries face in meeting the medical needs of their people, we are acutely aware that Australia has built something special with its approach to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. But it didn't just happen; it had to be fought for. And it was successive generations of Labor governments that made it happen.

The story of the PBS stretches right back to the wartime government of John Curtin. In 1944, Australians were beginning to see the extraordinary power of the new antibiotics, penicillins. Curtin believed these medicines should not be reserved for the wealthy few. He believed they should be available to everyone. It was his successor, Prime Minister Ben Chifley, and his health minister, Arthur Calwell—the man after whom my electorate is named—who took that vision forward. In 1944, Arthur Calwell brought legislation into this parliament to establish a national pharmaceutical benefits scheme, but it was met with fierce resistance. The conservatives of the day cried 'socialised medicine'. The medical profession challenged it in the High Court. The legislation was struck down, but Labor did not give up. In 1946, Australians were asked at a referendum whether the Commonwealth should have the power to legislate for pharmaceutical benefits and other social services. The answer was yes. Australians voted for fairness. They voted for universal healthcare. Even then the road was hard. There were more legal challenges and more delay, and it was not until 1960 that the PBS was finally rolled out in the form we know today.

That is our history—hard fought, hard won and deeply cherished. From Curtin to Chifley and Arthur Calwell to Whitlam, Hawke and Keating, Labor governments have built and defended the PBS, and today the Albanese Labor government is proud to carry that legacy forward. In 2023, Labor delivered the biggest cut in PBS history, lowering the co-payment from $42.50 to $30. In 2025 we froze the co-payment, protecting Australians from inflation, for the first time in 25 years. For pensioners and concession card holders, the cost of PBS medicine is now frozen at $7.70, all the way through to 2030.

This is real relief for families, pensioners and workers in my community of Calwell and right across Australia, and it delivers certainty, alongside the certainty that we will always fight to protect it. Our reforms have a real, tangible, local impact. What matters most is what this means for people in our communities.

In my community, local pharmacist Rayan engages every day with people who live on low incomes, many juggling multiple health conditions. She told my office:

For many in this community, it would be very difficult to afford their healthcare without subsidised medicines. Some are on five or more medications at once. Without the PBS, they wouldn't be able to afford their scripts. That means they wouldn't take their medicines. That means they would end up in hospital.

That's the reality. When medicines are affordable, people simply stay healthy. They don't miss doses. They don't skip scripts. They don't turn up at emergency wards with preventable complications. This is dignity in practice. This is the PBS at work. And Rayan is right: making medicines cheaper doesn't just save families money; it saves our entire health system money, because prevention is always cheaper than responding to crisis.

It is important to be clear: we are talking about the prescriptions people rely on every day for chronic illnesses and life-threatening conditions. Over 1.7 million scripts each year are written for asthma medicines. There are more than 860,000 scripts for Eliquis, which helps prevent strokes. There are those used by thousands for type 2 diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. There are over one million scripts written annually for the menopause drug Estradiol. This means real practical relief. And there are stories behind every one of these numbers.

Take Taya Purves, who spoke to the ABC. She has cystic fibrosis, a condition that requires multiple prescription medicines to manage, including breakthrough drugs. She said she currently spends more than $240 a month just on scripts. From next year, she will pay only $25 for her life-changing medicine. She described it as a 'welcome relief'. In her words:

It's so refreshing to hear about the cost of something you need to function dropping.

That's what this bill is about: tangible, everyday relief; life-changing, life-extending relief.

Our PBS is a cherished Australian institution. This bill matters because of the accessibility of medicines and the dollars saved but also because of what it says about us as a nation. It is no exaggeration to say that the PBS is a practical expression of the Australian value of egalitarianism. The health of our society can be measured by how we value the health of our people. A basic commitment that every Australian should have access to cheaper medicine that is vital to their wellbeing is a foundation stone of our national character. No matter your wealth, no matter where you live, you deserve access to medicine that keeps you healthy, keeps you working and keeps you with your family.

This is who we are. This is what makes us proud. We have to defend our healthcare system from those opposite and from those abroad, and it is precisely because the PBS is so effective that it is under attack from outside our borders. We now face threats of tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals, punishing our nation for running a fair and affordable medicine system. The Prime Minister said it plainly: 'The PBS is not for sale.' The health minister has been just as clear: 'We will not negotiate away cheaper medicines.' That's because the PBS is not just a line in a budget; it reflects who we are as Australians. It is an Australian solution built on Australian values, protecting Australian families, and we will defend it.

Beyond the scheme's priorities and central purpose of the health of Australians, there are economic and productivity benefits. Cheaper medicines are not just good for the hip pocket; they are good for our economy. In 2024, the Productivity Commission released research showing that advances in new medicines were directly linked to measurable productivity growth in Australia's healthcare system. We've recently seen productivity grow by about three per cent per year in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, blood and metabolic disorders and kidney and urinary disease. These are areas that together account to one-third of all healthcare expenditure.

The lesson is simple: when Australians get access to the medicines they need, they live healthier, longer and more productive lives. They can work. They can care for their families. They can participate fully in society. That is why cheaper medicines are not just a social good; they are an economic imperative.

This bill is part of a bigger picture of Labor's broader health and cost-of-living agenda. The Albanese Labor government is committed to tackling the cost-of-living crisis head-on. We are making medicine cheaper. We are strengthening Medicare. We are investing in the health workforce through free TAFE and paid practical placements for nursing and midwifery students. We are freezing PBS prices for pensioners through to the end of this decade, and we are ensuring that the foundations of our healthcare system remain strong not just for today's Australians but for generations to come.

The PBS is not perfect. It will continue to evolve as new medicines and new treatments emerge. But it is, without question, one of the most important pillars of our healthcare system. It is a cornerstone of fairness, a cornerstone of dignity and a cornerstone of what it means to live in a healthy, civil society.

This bill reaffirms Labor's commitment to that cornerstone. We are cutting the cost of medicines to $25 a script. We are delivering over $200 million in annual savings. We are defending the PBS from external threats, and we are ensuring that every Australian, no matter their means, has the chance to live a healthy, productive life.

This is Labor's vision for a fairer Australia. It is a vision where your health is not determined by your bank balance, where families in my community and in every suburb and town in this nation can afford the medicines they need and where future generations can look back and say: 'We did not let the PBS be weakened or sold off. We defended it, we strengthened it and we passed it on.' At its heart, the PBS is about the dignity of every Australian, and Labor will always defend that dignity.

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