Minister Butler doorstop, Parliament House – 1 July 2026

Media event date: 1 July 2026 Date published: 1 July 2026 Media type: General public MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Thanks everyone. This is a big day for cost of living relief for Australians. Millions of low paid workers get a big pay rise today, and every single Australian worker gets a tax cut; one of the five tax cuts that our government has committed to delivering to Australian workers.

Also, we're extending fuel tax relief for another month, because we know that prices at the bowser are a big part of household budgets. But on top of that, extended paid parental leave up to six months now means that parents get to spend more time with their precious new babies knowing that the bills will be able to be covered. And in my portfolio, I'm really pleased to be able to say we're doing more to make Medicare stronger and to make medicines cheaper.

We're locking in those Urgent Care Clinics which provide free of charge relief to people who need urgent care, and aren't- meaning that they don't have to go to their local hospital emergency departments. We're extending support to women during perimenopause and menopause, and this month is a bumper month for the PBS with ten new medicines added to the PBS from today, providing tens of thousands of Australians with affordable access to life-saving, life-changing new treatments.

Happy to take questions. : Minister, what do you say to Australians with multiple sclerosis that could lose access to two key drugs over a pricing dispute? : I'm deeply concerned about this. I'm pleased that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, which is the committee of experts that have overseen the PBS for many, many years, are considering this issue at this month's meeting.

Obviously, I want to see these medicines stay on the PBS. They're providing great support to many, many patients living with MS. I'll leave that work to go through its usual course with the PBAC, but obviously I want to see these medicines stay on the PBS and continue to provide that support to patients. : The Chinese ambassador to Australia has accused ASIO of fabricating spying claims against China.

What's your response to that statement? : We fully support the work of the ASIO director, Mike Burgess. He's a terrific public servant, and he and all of his staff at ASIO provide great work for Australian security. : Drug companies say Australia's PBS pricing system is outdated and forcing medicines off the market. Is the system now putting Australian patients at risk? : Today's changes to the PBS with a bump a month, 10 new medicines, show that the PBS is still delivering for Australians.

The original mission was to provide Australian patients with affordable access to the world's best medicines, and today's announcements show that that is still delivering for Australian patients. But I've also been very clear that there are real pressures on our medicines system as there are on every other medicines system in the world, in part as a result of policy changes made by the Trump administration.

As well, we're going through a process of response to a once-in-a-generation review of our health technology assessment system, which is really the system that underpins medicines pricing in this this country. And we're now, from 1 July actually, able to start negotiations with industry for a new five-year strategic agreement. I've been pretty clear-eyed and pretty frank about the pressures I know are on our PBS system because of changes to pricing in America, which is reverberating right through the world, not just here in Australia but in every other single country on the planet.

And we'll go through that process with that core mission in mind, that the PBS is there to provide affordable access to Australians to all of the terrific new medicines coming onto the market. : You've listed a whole lot of changes that are coming into effect from today. Obviously, it's a good thing that people are getting a tax cut, wages are going up. But isn't that just going to be eaten up by inflation? : You've seen inflation come down over the last couple of months, but it is still obviously higher than we would want it to be.

Countries around the world are dealing with the impact of this war in Iran. But even before the war in Iran, we were frank that there were some pressures in the economy, particularly as demand in the private part of the economy really roared back in the second half of calendar 2025. We've been very careful in all of our budgets to make sure that we provide responsible cost of living relief to Australian households and in this budget, including to Australian small businesses, while not providing further pressure on inflation in the economy.

And I think we've achieved that balance. Of course we want to see inflation continue to come down, but in the meantime, we're providing significant responsible cost of living relief to Australian households. : You wanted the NDIS legislation in by 30 June - 1 July. How disappointed are you that that hasn't been what's come to fruition? : Obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm also realistic about the way in which the Senate works.

There simply was not a pathway for us to get that legislation through this fortnight. Neither the Liberal Party or the Coalition nor the Greens were willing to accommodate that. We, as we always do, work with the reality that the Senate delivers us.

I'm confident we can bring that legislation back when we return after the winter break in mid-August and get it done then. This is important reform. I think the Coalition has recognised that.

There have been some very constructive comments from the Leader of the Opposition, going back to and including his budget reply speech. We're having good constructive engagement with the Shadow Minister, Melissa McIntosh, so we'll come back to that debate in August. But this work needs to be done.

The NDIS needs significant change to get it back on track and to secure its long-term future. : And just on gambling reform, why did the government pick 8:30pm as the sort of cut-off time for ads when sporting games often extend beyond 8:30pm? : I'll let the responsible minister answer that precise detail, but I will say that these gambling reforms were a result of very significant engagement with a very wide, diverse range of stakeholders.

And I think we achieved a very important balance there and delivered the most significant reform to gambling any Commonwealth government has delivered in history. : Yesterday we saw the naming of Garth Hamilton in the House. We've also seen repeated uses of the term liar. We've seen quite a lot of points of order on relevance that have been repudiated by the Speaker.

Has the tenor of debate changed in the House of Representatives over the last term of government? : I've been here almost 20 years, and yesterday's outburst by Garth Hamilton was something I've never seen before, and I think the Speaker made similar remarks and the response from the House of Representatives was appropriate. I was surprised, I have to say, that the Opposition opposed that.

We've seen circumstances, I remember when Andrew Lamming was named because of some of his conduct. You did not see the Opposition vote and divide against that because I think on any objective measure, that was seen as an appropriate response to Mr Lamming's behaviour at the time. And I can't see on what possible basis Angus Taylor could justify or defend Mr Hamilton's behaviour in the House of Representatives, the Parliament of Australia, yesterday.

Thanks. The Hon Mark Butler MP Disability and carers Accessibility We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present. © Commonwealth of Australia