Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

For the second time in this parliament, I am tabling a petition in this chamber regarding treatment for Australians with cystic fibrosis.

The petition read as follows—

The PBAC have now officially recommended Trikafta, but people with CF cannot access this critical medication until it is listed on the PBS. We can't wait any longer to access this life changing medication. Every day without Trikafta means increasing lung damage for those who need this vital medicine. For some of us in the CF Community, our lives cannot truly start without Trikafta. Trikafta is a crucial medicine for the CF Community, with lifesaving implications for around 90% of Australians living with cystic fibrosis.

We therefore ask the House to Expedite the listing of Trikafta on the PBS urgently. The House must quickly work with Vertex and the PBAC to make sure onboarding data, price ratios and other hurdles do not delay access to this lifesaving medicine. We must get Trikafta to the people now. We are so close and have waited so long. We cannot wait any longer. Trikafta must be on the PBS before the election. Trikafta has been recommended, now please get it listed today.

from 58,274 citizens (Petition No. EN3915)

Petition received.

First of all, I would like to thank the previous CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Australia, Nettie Burke, the present CEO, Jo Armstrong, and the cystic fibrosis community for putting this petition forward for the second time. This is something that almost 60,000 Australians have signed. It regards the use of Trikafta, which is a remarkable treatment for the most common variant of cystic fibrosis with abnormalities in the delta F508 gene. This has caused a life-saving treatment to be available for over 2,000 Australians with cystic fibrosis. We've seen people who were on the heart and lung transplant list taken off because of the use of Trikafta. The minister has only just approved this after some delay and after rejection by the PBAC over 12 months ago. It has recently been approved. It's now available and will save the lives of over 2,000 Australians. This is a wonderful new treatment that has revolutionised the treatment of cystic fibrosis in Australia.