Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a former practising doctor, I welcome any reform that lowers the cost of medicine. We as a Labor government have been, from the get-go, delivering this for the Australian people over the course of two terms now. Since we were first elected we've seen consecutive reductions in the cost of medicines. They were originally around $42. We lowered them to $32 per general script, and from 1 January next year it will fall again to $25 a script. The last time medicines were $25 a script was in 2004. Do you know what else was big in 2004? Shannon Noll exploded onto the scene with his hit, 'What About Me?' Ian Thorpe cemented his greatness at the Athens Olympics, winning more gold medals, and Facebook was founded in 2004. Maybe that was not so great. What is great is seeing the cost of general medicines drop. Why is it important? From a medical standpoint it's important because I've seen patients ration their medicines. That means that either they cut them in half or take them every second day. In other words, they're trying to make them stretch. That has consequences. It leads to avoidable emergency department presentations with a whole list of ailments.

When you think about it, nine out of 10 Australians have chronic diseases. Millions and millions of Australians take medicines on a regular basis. The average family that has, say, four regular scripts, will save around $300 a year. That's $300 more to spend on other items like clothing for the kids, paying rent, buying something special or going out and having a nice time at a restaurant. I welcome these changes, I'm particularly excited about the impact that this will have on emergency department presentations, which I think will be very interesting to monitor going forward.

This reform builds on a whole suite of changes that we have brought in for medicines. I particularly like 60-day scripts, which now include nearly 300 medicines on the PBS. That means you can go and see your doctor and ask your doctor to give you a 60-day script instead of a 30-day script. Again, it means saving more money, as well as convenience, so that you don't have to keep turning up to receive that script each time.

This reform of course builds upon one of Labor's proudest legacies and public achievements, and that is the founding of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That was a Chifley government legacy in 1948, and this bill takes the principle of access to essential medicines forward again. I thank you.