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

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator McAllister. In its first term, the Albanese Labor government delivered cost-of-living relief that was focused on ensuring Australians, no matter where they came from or where they lived, could access affordable health care. How is the government building on its first-term record to strengthen Medicare and deliver cost-of-living relief to all Australians?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator and acknowledge her commitment to Medicare and to public health. In our first term, the Albanese Labor government delivered $3.5 billion in 2023, which restored access to bulk-billing for the 11 million patients that it covered. We promised 50 urgent care clinics that would deliver bulk-billed care for urgent and non-life-threatening conditions. We promised 50, but how many did we deliver? We actually delivered 87. That's right, colleagues.

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was 87, Senator Ciccone. We delivered the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a script falling from $42.50 to just $30. We did this because it is the Labor way. We did this because no-one should have to check their bank balance to see if they can afford the doctor and because health care should be accessible to everybody, no matter how much they make or where they live.

We are building on those foundations. From 1 November 2025, Labor will deliver the largest ever investment in the history of Medicare: $8.5 billion to expand bulk-billing and create an additional new incentive payment for practices that bulk-bill every payment. We will also expand the availability of free urgent health care by opening another 50 Medicare urgent care clinics. Just this week, of course, the government passed our cheaper medicines bill so that a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme costs no more than $25. This is a 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of medicines under the PBS.

Now, make no mistakes, colleagues. The Albanese government is building on the foundations that we laid in our first term. We are restoring and strengthening Medicare, which is something that those opposite were unwilling and unable to do in their three terms. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ananda-Rajah, first supplementary?

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

The PBS is a proud cornerstone of Australia's universal healthcare system because Australians should never have to choose between the medicines they need and paying bills. How has the Albanese Labor government delivered cost-of-living relief by making medicines cheaper for all Australians?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is delivering even cheaper medicines in our second term. We have successfully passed legislation this week to make sure that a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme costs no more than $25. As I said in my answer to your primary question, this is a 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of medicines under the PBS. It will save Australians more than $200 million a year, and pensioners and concession card holders, of course, will have the cost of their PBS medicines frozen at just $7.70 until 2030. You would have to go all the way back to 2004 for medicines this cheap.

No-one should have to choose between medicines they need and putting food on the table. That is why the Albanese government has consistently delivered on our plan to make medicines cheaper—because we know that that's what the real cost of living looks like.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ananda-Rajah, second supplementary?

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

In May, Australians voted to protect and strengthen Medicare. How is the Albanese Labor government focused on delivering the better future Australians voted for? Why has the government chosen this approach?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're very clear about our approach on this side of the chamber, Senator Ananda-Rajah. When we came to government in 2022, there was a lot of damage to be repaired—damage caused by those opposite. We are repairing it with more bulk-billing, with cheaper medicines and with more urgent care clinics.

Everyone here remembers their approach. They promised no cuts to health. Then, what did they do? The cut $428 million from health in the 2014 budget. Everyone remembers what Senator Ruston said at the time. She said:

Everybody would like to think that we could go on in life with universal healthcare, with universal education and with all these wonderful things that over the last 20 years Australians have come to accept as a given. Unfortunately, the credit card is maxed out.

That is the position they took. Well, their six-year freeze on the Medicare rebate ripped billions out of Medicare. We are repairing that damage, strengthening Medicare with more bulk-billing, cheaper medicines and more urgent care.