Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government believes you should be able to afford the medicine you need without worrying about the cost. That's why, from January, Australians won't pay more than $25 for their PBS scripts. This week, our government is introducing new laws to make that happen. The last time medicines were $25 was in 2004. I've seen some examples given by other senators about what was happening. For North Queenslanders, that means Travis Norton was the captain of the North Queensland Cowboys, who were still playing at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

A lot has changed since 2004 but Labor's commitment to Medicare never will. When we talk about cheaper medicines, we're not talking about numbers on a page; we're talking about parents being able to fill their child's prescription without cutting back on groceries. This is all about fairness and delivering on our commitment to tackle the cost of living. The Albanese Labor government has already cut the cost of medicines once, and now we're doing it again. When we did attempt to cut the cost of those medicines in the last term, those opposite voted against cheaper medicines six times. Those opposite voted against delivering cost-of-living relief when Australians needed it the most. Well, Labor created Medicare, we'll always protect it and now we are strengthening it.