Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the grandson of a pharmacist, I know pharmacies are an essential service communities rely on. Pharmacists are the front line of health care in our communities. They are professionals, community leaders and counsellors and they operate a triage service, helping people understand and manage their health needs. I see it all the time. Our community pharmacies keep many people afloat.

I have great pharmacists in my community, like Alex Torrens from Hornsby Heights Pharmacy, Adam Shanahan from Pennant Hills Pharmacy, Warwick Best of Best's Pharmacy Cherrybrook, Yvonne Nguyen from Carmen Drive Community Pharmacy, Sunny To from the Priceline pharmacy at Beecroft, Susan Cole from Mt Colah Pharmacy, Diksha Mehrotra from Friendly Pharmacy at Round Corner, Susan Low and Leanne Plumbridge from Mount Colah Pharmacy and many, many others.

Given all this, when I hear from pharmacists in my community that are deeply worried about a policy change, I pay attention. In recent weeks, I've had phone calls, emails and visits from pharmacists across the Berowra electorate. They are all telling me the same thing. They are saying the government's 60-day dispensing policy could be fatal for community pharmacies and bad for patients. It will make the most unwell people in our communities even more vulnerable. We risk seeing the closure of pharmacies in communities that need them most.

Sixty-day dispensing makes sense on paper. Cheaper medicines and more efficiency—who would oppose that? The government's policy falls into the notorious trap of not enough listening to the people who will be actually affected. As the Council of Small Businesses of Australia said, 'Initially, the proposal seems to expect small business pharmacies to fund consumer cost-of-living savings.' Dr Nick Coatesworth said:

The savings in costs to consumers is a fantastic outcome, but if that is only partly absorbed by government and passed on to pharmacies, the potential here is that smaller pharmacies will be under pressure. The last thing we want is the loss of pharmacies …

I want my community to be able to access more affordable health care, but to try to suggest you are helping patients by risking the closure of their local pharmacy is utter nonsense. One pharmacist in my community shared with me an independent assessment on the impact of this policy change on her pharmacy. Fifty-two per cent of the patients who visit her pharmacy would be affected by this policy change. The bottom line financial loss to the pharmacy is anticipated to be $140,000. This is not a cost a community pharmacy can absorb.

Minister Butler said that other services will be directed towards pharmacies so they will be funded in different ways to provide different services. The pharmacists in my electorate tell me this is nonsense. For example, $377.3 million over four years will be going to reform opioid dependence treatment access, but in some locations this service is not relevant. Money is being removed from dispensaries, which all pharmacists have, to fund services that only some pharmacists participate in. It is the bread-and-butter of pharmacies being cut. Pharmacies are not like other businesses; they can't just adjust their prices to address bottom line. If there are pharmacy closures in my electorate, the Prime Minister and Minister Butler will be responsible. I urge the government to do their homework and consider the effects of this decision on community pharmacies across our country.