Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Just before I briefly sum up—I won't respond directly to all the contributions, but I thank all senators for their contributions—I will just respond to some of what Senator Polley had to say, claiming cuts here, there and everywhere, which is of course not the case. In fact, I would point not just to the coalition government's record investment in hospitals but also, when it comes to things like PBS listings, being able to list so many new drugs and save Australians who are doing it tough, to give them access to medicines that would otherwise simply be out of reach. That includes Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy, saving patients over $350,000; Kisqali for breast cancer, saving Australian women over $70,000 a year; and Orkambi for cystic fibrosis, saving patients up to $250,000. So, I do reject some of the assertions made by Senator Polley. This is what happens when you get control of the budget, and indeed we see that, in stark contrast to the former Labor government, who deferred the listing of many of these medicines because they simply didn't have the money.

But putting that aside, I want to thank members for their contributions to the debate and support for this bill. This bill will amend the Health Insurance (Approved Pathology Specimen Collection Centres) Tax Act 2000 to increase flexibility by enabling tax payable on the grants of an approved specimen collection centre to be calculated for approvals granted for periods longer than one year. The bill will amend tax payable on the grant of an approval of an ACC from $1,000 paid annually to $2,000 paid two-yearly. The rate of the tax has not been changed since the act was enacted in 1999. Careful consideration was given for no increase to the tax to ensure that smaller ACCs were not negatively impacted. The changes to the tax and the proposed corresponding amendment to the Health Insurance (Eligible Collection Centres) Approval Principles 2010 to extend approvals from one year to two years will be welcomed by the sector as they assist in reducing operational and administrative burden.

There are a number of parallel projects that support the development and implementation of the government's direction for pathology that include administrative changes by automating and streamlining processes to reduce the regulatory burden for pathology providers. The department has been engaging with and will continue to engage with key stakeholders prior to the amendment to the tax and the extension of the time frame for new and renewed ACC applications, including reaffirming the key elements of the measure announced in the budget.

In summary, this bill will amend the tax payable on the grant of an approval for an ACC from $1,000 annually to $2,000 to be paid two-yearly. This amendment is an essential component to the budget measure as part of streamlining processes and reducing the administrative burden for pathology collection centres. I table a supplementary explanatory memorandum relating to a government amendment to be moved to this bill. Thank you.