Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Honourable senators would appreciate that I was expecting a question like this and that I have prepared myself to answer the question as informatively as I can. I thank Senator Webber for her question, and I immediately correct her and state very clearly that it is not the government that has made the decision. In fact it is the relevant government instrumentality.

I would like to commence my answer by reminding opposition senators of what Julia Gillard had to say on this topic only very recently. I want to go on the record as saying that Julia Gillard in fact made a very sensible contribution in advance of this debate. She had some very sensible things to say in February this year in relation to the PBS. I urge senators opposite to listen to what the opposition’s shadow health minister said about the body that made the decision, not the government. She said: ‘The way the PBS works is that there is an expert committee that assesses what drugs should go on the PBS. You want experts looking at drugs. You don’t want politicians going, ‘‘I’ll pick that one and not that one.”’ That is what Julia Gillard said on 9 AM with David and Kim on 2 February 2006. I commend that view to all senators in this place, particularly senators opposite. It is a sensible attitude.

However, when I awoke this morning—and I understand that is not a very attractive notion to members opposite—