Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Trent Barrett was the Dragons captain, and on 29 August the team pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the club's history to beat Manly 36-34 at Kogarah. And we'll beat them again this weekend! Just like in 2004, medicines are going to cost 25 bucks.

I live in Beverley Park. I have a car licence and I'm, pretty much, bingeing on Netflix on the couch rather than going to the cinema. Regardless of what happens at Kogarah this weekend, one thing remains the same: Labor are still committed to health care. We're still committed to the St George area and we're delivering on $25 for PBS medicines.

I'm glad the coalition matched this commitment. This is a national issue that we should always agree on. Affordable, accessible health care is uniquely Australian and so it makes sense that both major parties want to see these changes pass. I only hope that the next time we present changes like this we'll see the same support. Let me be clear. This is not just a health policy, it is a social justice policy. Cheaper medicines mean more than just relief at the counter. They mean people actually taking their medicines as prescribed. That means fewer preventable hospitalisations. It means fewer emergency presentations. It means a healthier population, which is good for patients and good for our health system.

It also is good for our economy. Every dollar we put into making medicines cheaper pays itself back many times over, because it prevents bigger, costlier interventions down the track. It is the most vulnerable Australians who benefit most—pensioners in Earlwood, families in Rockdale, young people in Kogarah—who work two jobs to keep food on the table. For them, $10 or $20 in savings at the pharmacy isn't trivial; it's the difference between financial stress and financial survival.

That's what this bill is about. It's about giving people dignity. This bill is not just about dollars and cents, it's about lives. Labor will always fight for the right to good health care and will always champion Medicare, and we'll always stand for cheaper medicines. I urge every member of this House to support this bill because, in a country as wealthy as Australia, no-one should ever have to choose between their health and their grocery bills.

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