Portfolio — 28 March 2026

The Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House announced three new PBS listings for Keytruda (pembrolizumab) taking effect 1 April 2026, covering locally advanced cervical cancer, locally advanced renal cell carcinoma, and locally advanced head and neck cancer [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab].

Each listing brings the cost of an infusion down to $25 — or $7.70 with a concession card — from a prior out-of-pocket expense exceeding $15,000 per infusion [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab]. The announcement was made at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, co-hosted with South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing Blair Boyer, with clinical context provided by Dr Shawgi Sukumaran, Senior Medical Oncologist.

Three cancer survivors gave personal testimony at the event. Allan Bridges disclosed he had paid approximately $14,000 out-of-pocket for seven cycles of Keytruda before the listing, and had subsequently written to the Minister's office requesting it be considered [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab]. Anita Modlinski (cervical cancer) and Ben Hale (head and neck cancer) also spoke.

Their accounts underscore the direct fiscal pressure the PBS listing removes for patients already receiving treatment at private expense.

The Minister confirmed the government is in active negotiations with the manufacturer on an all-cancer listing for Keytruda — a step that would replicate the world-first multi-cancer approach already achieved for Opdivo and Yervoy in earlier months. The Minister framed this trajectory as consistent with the portfolio's broader commitment to expanding PBS access to high-cost immunotherapies through evidence-based assessment by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab].

That framing positions these three listings not as standalone decisions but as milestones in a continuing immunotherapy access program.

The media release also captured the Minister fielding questions outside the health portfolio. On Iran, the Minister reaffirmed support for US-Israeli strikes insofar as they aimed to remove Iran's nuclear capability, citing Australian exposure to Iranian-sponsored terror attacks, and indicated the government remains focused on de-escalation and the restoration of oil flow [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab].

On energy and fuel security, the Minister confirmed the government is introducing new parliamentary measures to underwrite risks faced by private fuel suppliers, and pointed to the National Cabinet meeting scheduled for 30 March 2026 as the mechanism for coordinating consistent state and federal responses to fuel supply constraints flowing from the Middle East conflict [TA-260329-health-8c90bcaea7ab].

The energy and foreign affairs disclosures are notable in context: the Minister articulated the government's fuel security legislative response and the National Cabinet coordination timeline in the same media appearance as the health announcement, reflecting the breadth of ministerial messaging on the day.