Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to make a contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I start by congratulating the former minister who introduced this piece of legislation in the other house, Ms Kearney, for her work in ensuring that Medicare is maintained, strengthened and protected. I also want to extend that congratulations to Minister Butler, our minister for health and aged care, and to our other new cabinet ministers, including Assistant Minister White, who joins in Indigenous health—an important portfolio to me as a First Nations person—Minister Rae, who joins in aged care; and Minister McAllister, who is joining in relation to disability.

I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to be a member of the community affairs Senate committees. I will be joined by my colleague Senator Ananda-Rajah, who spoke before others in this chamber and brings an immense amount of her personal knowledge and professional knowledge to this work. Our work as a government is in ensuring that health, ageing and disability are at the forefront of what Australians see as centrepieces. This is important work. As a proud Western Australian senator—just like yourself, President—I want to ensure that our home state's issues are also presented and showcased for the good practice in our work that we are doing with our state Labor government and for the great contributions and investments by federal Labor that are working, particularly in Medicare.

We are unapologetic across this side of the chamber. We will not be lectured to by the opposition, because things like bulk-billing had been in freefall for a decade under them. The cuts to and the neglect of Medicare have been the things that this Labor government has had to fix in its first term. Australians see Medicare; it sits at the heart of our community. Whether you live in regional areas or within the metropolitan areas, Medicare universally benefits all Australians, including our most vulnerable Australians. That's why strengthening Medicare was a key focus of this Labor government's election platform. The Albanese government continue to be committed to protecting and strengthening Medicare as part of improving that compliance framework and to ensuring the integrity of rebates that are made under that scheme.

This bill, as others in this chamber have already articulated, is in direct response to the consultation with stakeholders and to the Philip review. The review was commissioned by this government to respond to some of those concerns about the operations of the Medicare system. This includes things like winding back Medicare claim timeframes from two years to one year and making sure that we improve the payment integrity system. It's about honesty, it's about consistency, it's about transparency and it's about championing the needs of those who are doing it tough and making sure that we centre patients and the care that needs to be provided.

This bill improves the investigative powers across Medicare and ensures that the PBS pharmacy approval process is enshrined in legislation, to enhance the capacity of the government to manage and alleviate the consequences, particularly of the TGA shortages here in Australia. It also supports the very important vaping reforms that were introduced by this government in our last term in parliament. It centres on the importance of harmonising different advertising provisions and adding clarity to that with its interactions with the TGA. That is an important measure because we know that, as part of the reforms introduced by this government, the Cancer Council's recent research in its latest Generation Vape study talks about a decline in the 14- to 17-year-old Australians who vape. These are important measures, and we know that.

This further investment also includes other measures. If you were in here at question time yesterday, you would have heard Senator Tyrrell ask a question in relation to tobacco. The Albanese Labor government are making that further investment—$350 million—to ensure that law enforcement agencies have the resources to tackle the black market in relation to illegal tobacco. That is an important measure we are coupling alongside our important reforms on vaping.

The PBS has been in place in this country for 75 years. Cheaper, affordable and prompt access to medicines and health care can only be a win. No-one should have to choose between the basics of a good standard of living, fuel and food. Australian patients and families will save hundreds of dollars a year in out-of-pocket costs. It ensures that every Australian receives the best health care, which they deserve. It is our job in this place to ensure that that is maintained. We cannot have a system that is being exploited at the cost of our most vulnerable Australians. Compliance with and protection of Medicare is in fact non-negotiable. It is about calling out those who are in fact not doing the right thing. This is why it's so important that a few do not spoil it for all and that we have good compliance and cheap and accessible health care.

This is exactly why the Albanese Labor government are making cheaper medicines even cheaper, with a script not going to cost more than $25 under the PBS. This is critical for Australians who may have some additional challenges or are affected by cost of living due to their circumstances. This is why the Albanese government is investing in ways to alleviate these pressures. These are part of a range of measures that this government has introduced.

I want to take a moment to reflect on my memories of my own experiences of the importance of Medicare. I was a child who grew up with hardworking parents in Western Australia—in Perth, in fact. My dad was a truck driver and my mum was a tea lady. I have a very vivid memory of when I was in primary school going to the local GP and the receptionist using one of those old credit card systems that you would swipe across to get a triplicate. In the eighties, when Medicare first came in, they were my experiences. They were my memories. I was a kid who presented with some health issues. I have a hereditary hearing impairment, so my parents were constantly taking me in for ear, nose and throat issues. The access to affordable medications and the Medicare system made a difference. It also shaped my worldview in relation to health care. If that hadn't been the case and Medicare didn't exist then I might not be standing here in front of you in the chamber today.

I also, like many parents across Australia, have taken my kids who have been unwell and distressed at night to an emergency department and sat for hours waiting for them to be seen. One of the most recent times was when my daughter fell off her scooter. She was in so much pain from an aching and throbbing wrist that she had landed on. We saw a medic on site at the event we were at, but, as a concerned mum and due to the need to ease my mind and also to settle her and reassure her that she hadn't broken anything, I took her off to an emergency department.

I see the benefit in the way previous Labor governments have invested in and built Medicare for our families and communities because, over my life cycle, I have used the healthcare system and benefited from it.