National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025

Mr KHALIL (Wills—Assistant Minister for Defence) (11:35): I also rise in support of Labor's National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025, which will freeze the price of PBS medicines at just $25. It's a remarkable thing, because it's so important. Why is this so important for the community?

Apart from the fact that there are so many cost-of-living pressures that people are facing, this type of support, through medicines, is critical to people's lives and their health care. It's fundamental. We on this side are proud to be the party and the government that stand by working Australians.

Under the Labor government, no-one will have to choose between putting food on the table and paying for the medicine that they need to stay healthy. It's fundamental. The bill delivers on our election commitment to make cheaper medicines even cheaper by reducing the price of PBS medicines from $31.60 to just $25.

That's a whopping 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of PBS medicines, which will save Australians over $200 million each year. To put this in perspective, the last time PBS medicines were this price was over 20 years ago. That's 2004.

Back in 2004—I don't know where you were, Deputy Speaker Young—I remember I had a full head of hair, and I was rocking out to Pearl Jam. I think that was the band of the time. Member for Lyons, do you remember where you were in 2004?

Ms White: You don't want to know! Mr KHALIL: I don't want to know! The member for Wannon was probably wandering around, listening to rock music or something like that.

It was a long time ago, 2004. I can tell you times have changed a lot. We don't want to, necessarily, roll back the clock.

I don't think the member for Lyons, the member for Wannon or I want to roll back the clock; we enjoyed the experiences we had in the last 20 years. But guess what we do want to roll back the clock on? PBS medicines.

That's what we want to roll the clock back on. We could be in a time machine here in this parliament. We could go back in time to the cost of PBS medicines back in 2004.

Isn't that amazing? Jules Verne would be very proud of us here at the Australian parliament. So we're setting the price of PBS medicines to a figure of $25.

We remember, but some people might not have even been born in 2004. In all seriousness, since we formed government, Labor have provided Australians with the largest cut to PBS medicine prices in the history of the PBS. Thanks to our $689 million investment into the PBS, we have brought down the cost of medicines from $42.50 in January 2023 to just $25 by the beginning of next year.

That's remarkable. Making cheaper medicines even cheaper is our way of providing real solutions—real outcomes—to easing the cost-of-living pressures felt by all Australians. Unlike those who sit across from us, we are delivering on our promise to bring down the cost of medicines.

It doesn't matter whether you live in metropolitan cities or the most rural areas of our vast country; you too will be able to afford the medicines you need most when you need them. I've been doorknocking around my electorate of Wills a fair bit, even after the election as well, just saying g'day to constituents. I've heard firsthand how cost-of-living pressures are affecting my constituents.

On the doors, I met with a woman, a mum of four, by the name of Lucinda. Lucinda described to me how her son had recently been diagnosed with epilepsy and that she had had to decrease her hours at work to care for her son. She made the choice to look after her child, which meant less work.

Now that the joint income of her family has decreased, the family is feeling the pressure of the cost of living even more. Luckily for Lucinda's family, her son's epilepsy medication is one that is listed on the PBS, meaning that they will have to pay only $25 from the beginning of next year, down from $42.50. The time machine is working.

To put it into perspective, the same medication in the US without health insurance would be—I don't know if anyone wants hazard a guess here? Ms Kara Cook: A hundred! Mr KHALIL: I heard a hundred.

It's actually $968. If ever we needed proof about the brilliance and importance of the PBS as something that's critical to our healthcare system in Australia, there it is. Thanks to the Albanese Labor government's massive investment into the PBS, families like Lucinda's will have certainty around the cost of medication, moving forward.

I also met on another occasion a retiree by the name of Alex. In Alex's older years, he's developed high blood pressure. High blood pressure actually affects about 42 per cent of Australians over the age of 75.

If Alex was living in the US and his blood pressure went up, and it would go up because of the politics there, his high blood pressure medication would cost—I'm going to try asking again. Does anyone know how much this would cost him in the US? Ms Byrnes: One thousand!

Mr KHALIL: It's $631. You were close, and that's without health insurance. In Australia, this medication on the PBS will only cost Alex $25.

You know where this is going. For pensioners like Alex, it costs even less. Guess what.

It's not actually $25 for Alex. We got it wrong! Alex, because he is a pensioner, he will have his medication frozen at only $7.70 until 2030.

That's much better than $631, isn't it? Lucky for Alex, he doesn't need to afford health insurance to pay for his medicines, because in this country, in Australia, Medicare is for all. It is for all Australians.

This is why the Australian people are so passionately committed to Medicare. It is something that is iconic. Those on the opposition benches just love criticising the PM when he pulls out his Medicare card and so on.

But guess what. The Australian people know the importance of that card. When they see that card, they understand what it means for them, their families and their health care.

This is why it's so important and we're so committed to it. We will continue to make sure affordable medicines are available for those who need them most. This is why the Labor Party is the party for all Australians.

There is real, tangible relief for every Australian who is deciding what scripts they can refill this week. This relief comes through these reductions. We will continue to ensure that no-one has to decide between their health or putting food on the table.

Frankly, that should not be a choice that Lucinda, Alex or any Australian should have to make. While the opposition talk a lot, on this side of the House, we, the government, deliver. This is what this second term is about: delivering on our election commitments to the Australian people on the things that matter to them and will give them a better life.

This is one of those commitments that we are meeting. We are making medicines more affordable for every Australian. We haven't just cut the cost of PBS scripts to $25; that's just one great thing.

This amendment is just another piece in the bigger part of our commitment to delivering cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines. As a government, we have already provided a 25 per cent cut to the number of scripts a concession patient must fill before the PBS safety net kicks in. We've already established 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians, and, for the first time in 25 years, we've frozen the cost of PBS medicines, ensuring co-payments will not rise with inflation.

Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, the cheaper medicines policy in my own electorate of Wills—and I'm sure this is probably replicated in the electorate of Lyons and all of the other electorates represented in the chamber—has already saved over $9 million for the people in my community. That's what Labor does. That's what we do.

That's what we're here for. It's to deliver on our promises to make sure health care is a right for all and not just a privilege for some. We're always going to fight for a fairer, healthier Australia.

This bill is a practical, compassionate and economically responsible bill. I commend it to the House.