Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. On 22 July, I walked into Parliament House for the official opening of the 48th Parliament. It was a very proud moment to be the 10th nurse and the fourth midwife in parliament and the very first federal member for Bullwinkel. It's a seat named after nurse Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel, World War II hero and the sole survivor of the terrible 1942 Bangka Island massacre. A few days later, I experienced yet another proud moment, voting yes to make medicines cheaper.

From 1 January next year, no Australian will pay more than $25 for a prescription on the PBS. Think about that for a moment. The last time medicines were this affordable was more than 20 years ago, in 2004. That is not just numbers on the page; it's a real, tangible cost-of-living measure that will make a difference in people's lives. We already delivered the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS in 2023 and now we are going even further. For the average household, this is a 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of PBS medicines, saving Australians more than $200 million a year.

I know from my own life just how important this is. I became a nurse when I was just 18 years old, following in my mother's footsteps. Being a nurse, you very quickly learn that access to affordable medicine can mean the difference between someone getting better and somebody ending up in hospital. I've seen what happens when people skip doses because the cost is too high. Remember that, for many people requiring medicines, especially for chronic diseases, they are often on more than one medication at the same time—many medications in some cases. That's why cheaper medicines aren't just good for the hip pocket; they're good for health. When I'm out doorknocking and speaking with people in my community in the Bullwinkel electorate, this is one of the issues that comes up again and again. People have told me that they are grateful when medicines become affordable and that this will make a big difference to their bottom line. For pensioners and concession card holders we also know that money can be tight, and that's why we have frozen the cost of PBS medicines at $7.70 until the year 2030—no rises, no surprises, just certainty.

This builds on action we have already taken to ease pressure. In July 2022, we reduced by 25 per cent the number of scripts a concessional patient needs before the PBS safety net kicks in. In January 2023, we cut down the maximum cost of a general script from $42.50 to $30, the biggest cut in PBS history. In September last year, we rolled out 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for people with ongoing health conditions. From January 2025, for the first time in 25 years, PBS co-payments won't rise with inflation. Importantly, all medicines that pharmacies can discount today will still be able to be discounted when the new $25 co-payment comes into effect.

This was a clear and consistent commitment from our government when we said we would make medicines cheaper and health more accessible and affordable, and that's exactly what we are doing. The Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, said it best: 'The size of your bank balance shouldn't determine the quality of your health care.' That's what this is all about—making sure every Australian, no matter who they are or what they earn, can afford medicines that they need. I am proud to stand here as the Bullwinkel representative but also someone who's worked in health care since they were a teenager. I know the difference that this will make to people's lives. The Albanese government is delivering real cost-of-living relief, not just words, and, as I've indicated, commitment and action. With this legislation, we are making medicines cheaper than they have been for two decades. We are building a fairer, healthy Australia together.

This is also in addition to our Medicare urgent care clinics. In the Albanese government's first term, one of their commitments was to build 50 Medicare urgent care clinics where people can just walk in without a referral or a credit card and get quality, accessible health care. We said we would deliver 50 in that first term, and we overdelivered by providing 87 clinics across Australia. Two of those clinics service the people of Bullwinkel. There's one in Gosnells and one in North Midland, both on the border of the electorate. Thanks to the Labor government, one of the new commitments, when we build another 50 around the country, will be in the Bullwinkel electorate—my commitment to a Medicare urgent care clinic in Kalamunda. We are working consistently to provide better, more accessible and more affordable health care for people.

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