Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor created Medicare, Labor protects Medicare and Labor is strengthening Medicare by making medicines cheaper for every Australian. This week, the Senate passed the Albanese Labor government's cheaper medicines bill. From 1 January next year, the maximum price for a prescription on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will fall to $25. That is the lowest price for medicines in more than two decades. The last time Australians paid no more than $25 for a PBS script was back in 2004. This reform is a more than 20 per cent cut in the cost of medicines, saving households across the country more than $200 million each year. And we have not stopped there. For pensioners and concession card holders, the cost of PBS medicines will remain frozen at $7.70 until 2030. That gives older Australians, people with disability and families on low incomes the certainty that their medicines will remain affordable for the rest of the decade. This is real cost-of-living relief, and it is only possible because of Labor's commitment to Medicare.

Supporting universal access to health care is in our DNA. It was Gough Whitlam who introduced Medibank in the 1970s, Australia's first national health insurance scheme. The Liberal Party tore it down, but Labor built it back. Bob Hawke gave this country Medicare, the universal healthcare system that Australians know and cherish today. And under the Albanese government, we are strengthening Medicare again. We have tripled the bulk-billing incentive, the largest investment in bulk-billing since Medicare was created, and we are rolling out Medicare urgent care clinics across the nation, including two in my home town of Hobart, so families can get help without the long wait at the emergency department. All of this is about one simple idea: no matter your income or your postcode, Australians deserve access to affordable health care.

In Tasmania this commitment makes a real difference. After years of decline, bulk-billing rates in our state are rising again, the Hobart Medicare urgent care clinics are giving families a new option for after-hours and urgent treatment and now, with the cheaper medicines bill, Tasmanians will see another cut in out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter. When I speak to people in Hobart, in Glenorchy and across southern Tasmania, they tell me about the strain of rising health costs. Whether or not to fill a script is not a decision Tasmanians should have to make.

By lowering the cost of medicines, we are not only helping family budgets; we are also helping people stay well. The evidence is clear: when medicines are affordable, people are more likely to take them as prescribed. That means fewer trips to the hospital and better long-term health outcomes. This matters, especially in Tasmania, where chronic conditions, like heart disease, diabetes and respiratory illnesses, are more common than the national average. Affordable medicines mean better health for our communities, fewer preventable hospital admissions and a fairer deal for families who already face higher health needs.

The contrast could not be clearer. Labor has always been the party that builds, protects and strengthens Medicare. From Whitlam's Medibank to Hawk's Medicare, from Albanese's bulk-billing reforms to cheaper medicines today, Labor has never walked away from the principle that health care should depend on your Medicare card, not your credit card. The Liberals opposed Medibank, they opposed Medicare and they continue to vote against the reforms that make our health system stronger. That is the difference. The cheaper medicines bill shows once again that only Labor can be trusted to protect Medicare and to make sure that every Tasmanian, whether you live in Hobart, in Strahan, in Launceston or on the east coast, gets the care they need, when they need it and at a price they can afford. Labor created Medicare, Labor protects Medicare and Labor will also always strengthen Medicare.