Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very proud to speak to this legislation that goes to the heart of one of the defining distinctions in Australian politics—that we, on this side of the House, understand that Medicare and the provision of health services should be on the basis of need, not on the basis of how wealthy you are. It also goes to one of the big distinctions, which is that, post the pressures that were on Australian families arising from COVID and then from global inflation, we, on this side of the House, continued to prioritise cost-of-living help for Australians—all of the measures opposed by those opposite.

In our first term, of course, we decreased the cost of medicines on the PBS by $12. In addition to that, we introduced a tripling of the Medicare bulk-billing incentive for people who were concession card holders, and, in addition to that, we introduced 60-day prescriptions, rather than just every month, saving people visits to the doctor and saving Australians money. All of these measures were opposed by those opposite. And the Australian people gave their verdict on 3 May. On 3 May they said: 'Yes, we do want a government that cares about cost of living. Yes, we do want a government that prioritises health care. Yes, we do want to see an expansion of the urgent care clinics that have been so successful, with more than 1½ million Australians benefiting from getting the care they need, when they need it, close to where they live, and all they have needed is their Medicare card.' And we know that, of those, about one-third have been under the age of 15, so that, when little Steve or Mary falls off their bike or has an accident while playing sport on the weekend, they can go and get that immediate care. They're not clogging up the emergency departments of hospitals, not waiting hours while more life-threatening conditions jump the queue—quite rightly, because they're the priority in an emergency department. But they're getting the treatment they need, when they need it, and doing it with just their Medicare card.

This legislation builds on our legacy in providing cheaper medicines, not just from the level that we reduced them to first, but by reducing them to just $25. We know that there's an old saying that my mum used to say and others have too: 'Nothing goes down in price.' Guess what. Under this government the price of medicines goes down not once but twice and by big amounts. They will be the same price as they were in 2004, more than 20 years ago. In addition to that, we have frozen the cost of medicines at $7.70 until the end of the decade.

For all Australians, January marked the first time for more than 25 years that the price of medicines didn't rise with inflation. As each phase of medicines becomes eligible, millions of Australians with an ongoing health condition are getting a bit more help with their cost of living. One of them is Cara, who I had the privilege of meeting a few weeks ago. Cara has endometriosis, and she's had it since she was 11. When Cara moved out of home, she had to stop her treatments because she couldn't afford them, and her health got worse—an all-too-common story. Thanks to Labor's cheaper medicines policy, Cara can now get the medication she needs. In her words: 'I wouldn't have been able to afford this medicine last year, but now I can, making an enormous difference.' Of course, that goes on top of not just the urgent care clinics that we're opening—an additional 50 more. The health minister and I were in Victoria just a couple of weeks ago, announcing the opening of the first three on top of the 87. Now we're up to 90 and rising when it comes to urgent care clinics right across Australia.

The women's health package that we've put in place—which the assistant minister at the table was so central to delivering—together with the member for Dobell and the minister, they have had a comprehensive plan for healthcare, whether it's cheaper medicines, urgent care clinics providing that mid-point between emergency departments and the local GP, providing for more bulk-billing by having the largest-ever increase in Medicare funding since Medicare was created, proudly, by the Hawke government. We did all of this in consultation with the sector. Earlier this year, I was the first Prime Minister—which I found remarkable—to ever address the national conference of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. It was in Queensland that we made this announcement that was so important.

So, from 1 January, under this legislation, every Australian with a Medicare card who isn't on a concession card will pay a maximum of $25 for a PBS prescription. This is a cut of more than 20 per cent. That will save Australians more than $200 million each and every year. PBS scripts will be the cheapest they've been since 2004. It adds to the more than $1.3 billion that Australians have already saved from cheaper medicines.

It was a clear commitment that we made at the election. I've made it clear that our priority is a year of delivery on the commitments that we were elected on, on 3 May. We've made a commitment to Australia and with this legislation we are delivering.

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