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

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator McAllister. We on this side of the chamber hear every day how important a strong and affordable health system is to the communities we represent. Tomorrow, the Albanese Labor government rolls out further measures to help every Australian access affordable health care, from hospital care through to urgent care for non-life-threatening conditions. How is the government delivering real change for Australians by investing in our public health system after a decade of cuts and neglect?

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

Thank you, Senator Brown. Tomorrow is an important day, and I am glad that you asked about it. Tomorrow, the Albanese Labor government is delivering record funding for our public hospitals—$25 billion in additional funding for public hospitals—and that is for the doctors and for the nurses who are the backbone of our public health system. It's for the ambos and the allied health workers who show up every single day to support everyday Australians. In your home state, Senator Brown, Tasmanians will receive $5.1 billion in total funding for hospitals over the next five years.

We're clear about what we need to fix. The previous government, the Liberal government, spent a decade neglecting our hospital system. Many senators on the benches opposite were part of a government that cut $50 billion from the hospital system that Australians depend on, and this government is delivering three times more additional funding for public hospitals than under the last five-year agreement. That is what real change looks like. That is what delivering real change means.

And that's not all. Not only are we investing in hospital care; we are ensuring that there is a permanent option for Australians to go for medical care when they need it most. Last week, I told the chamber how the Albanese Labor government has delivered every single one of our 137 urgent care clinics across the country, and, from 1 July, every single one of those will be permanent and every single one of them will bulk-bill for every Australian. And that means that a mum with a sick child on the weekend has somewhere to go, it means that a tradie with a bad cut doesn't have to sit in an ED for hours, and it means our hospitals can focus on the patients that need them most. This is what Labor governments do. We deliver real change for Australia. (Time expired)

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

Senator Brown, first supplementary?

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

The Albanese Labor government is not only committed to ensuring Australians get the care they need in our hospitals and urgent care clinics; it is also focused on making more medicines cheaper. How is the government helping Australians access more medicines at a lower cost from tomorrow?

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

Thank you, Senator Brown. July is a big month for cheaper medicines; 10 new listings are giving Australians expanded access to even cheaper medicines on the PBS, all for no more than $25. Let me tell you a bit more about what that means. Around 18,500 Australians with severe, uncontrolled asthma can now benefit from a new treatment that lowers the risk of asthma attacks. Today, Australians may have to pay $1,600 per injection every week. From tomorrow, they will pay just $25. For a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis, today Australians could be paying more than $95 per pack. From tomorrow, they will pay a maximum of $25. And it doesn't stop there. Australians with type 1 diabetes, lung cancer and rare blood cancer will also have access to expanded treatments on the PBS tomorrow.

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

Senator Brown, second supplementary?

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

When it comes to getting quality health care, all you should need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. Why is the Albanese Labor government making these investments to deliver quality health care to Australians? Why has the government chosen this approach?

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

Well, this Labor government believes in a simple principle: when you are sick, all you should need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. We have backed those beliefs with record investment in hospital funding and in Medicare. And what have those opposite done? On the one side, we have the coalition, led by their current leader, the member for Hume, who didn't just support cuts to health; he actually wanted the cuts to health to go further. In 2015, he said:

Cost-cutting programs can be painful, and they always involve hard trade-offs …

And then he continued to say:

… this work needs to extend across the entire health system.

Australians know who bore the costs of those trade-offs. It was them. Maybe it is time for those opposite to consider my counterpart's sage advice. Maybe it is time for a rebrand—a rebrand that would see you finally support public health, because you don't at the moment. (Time expired)

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

I advise the chamber that Senator Lambie has passed her question to Senator Ruston.