CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Dr REID (Robertson) (10:28): As a doctor, I know writing a prescription is only the beginning. The treatment only works if the patient can actually access it. That's why the PBS co-payment matters.
The reduction of the maximum PBS co-payment to $25 a script means more Australians can access the medicines they have been prescribed without cost becoming another barrier to care. That is practical change at the pharmacy counter. But clinically it represents something much bigger, because affordable medicines are not simply a cost-of-living issue; they are part of preventative health care.
They are part of health security, and ultimately they contribute to the resilience of our health system. A prescription sitting unfilled on a kitchen bench does not lower blood pressure. It does not control diabetes, and it doesn't manage cardiovascular disease.
Every clinician understands this very simple principle: intervene early, treat effectively and prevent deterioration. Because when people delay treatment, the consequences can move through the entire health system. A manageable condition becomes more complex, a GP presentation becomes a hospital presentation, and, eventually, that pressure arrives in places like the emergency department.
That is why reducing barriers to medicines matter. These are not abstract policy settings; they determine what somebody is asked to pay when they stand at their local pharmacy with a prescription in their hand. At a time when households are balancing housing, groceries, electricity and other everyday expenses, health care should not become another pressure that puts people off.
Australia has built strong national institutions around that principle. Medicare is one of them; the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is another. The PBS allows Australians to access medicines that might otherwise be far too expensive, with government meeting much of the cost and patients contributing through the co-payment.
Reducing that contribution is about keeping treatment within reach for Australians. It is about prevention, it is about keeping people healthier for longer, and it is about maintaining a health system with the capacity to care for Australians when they need it most. Good medicine is not simply about knowing which treatment to prescribe.