Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (18:41) 

I rise to contribute to the debate on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. As members of parliament our job is pretty simple when you strip it back. We are here to improve the lives of the people that we represent. One of most direct, practical and effective ways to do that is to make it easier for people to get by—to make life cheaper. And that's exactly what this bill does.

We are a country that takes pride in our healthcare system. We love the fact that, no matter where you live, no matter how much money you earn, you can get the care you need. We are proud, proud to the point of patriotism, that, when you walk into a pharmacy to pick up your script, you can get the medicine you rely on without being sent broke—because access to medicines should never, ever be a choice between going broke and staying alive.

The reason we have been able to do that and the reason Australians can access medicines that are cheaper than they are almost anywhere else in the world is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the PBS. It puts a cap on the cost of listed medicines so they stay affordable, reliable and within the reach of every Australian. Right now, the cap is $31.60. If you have a script for a PBS listed medicine, that is the most that you will pay.

It is already a great system, but we can do better. This bill reduces the cap down to $25. That means that, when you pick up a PBS medicine, you will not pay any more than $25. Now, $6.60 might not sound like a lot at first glance, but let me put it into perspective for everybody here. If your sixpack of beer dropped down from $31.60 to $25 overnight, the whole country would be rejoicing, wouldn't they? People would be lining up around the block! To put it another way, if you need three scripts a month, under the current cap you would be paying $95 a month. Under this new cap, it drops to $75. That's almost $25 of savings every single month. Over a year, that's more than $230 back in your back pocket. That's $230 you could put towards your electricity bill, your rego or your groceries, or just having a bit of breathing space. And that's just for one person. Across the country, this adds up to more than $200 million saved by Australians every year. That is not a small thing. That $6.60 really does make a big difference. That's what a real difference looks like.

Think about it this way. This is a 20 per cent cut to the maximum cost of a PBS medicine. We all know what happens when there's a 20 per cent off sale at the shops; I know my wife does. Try finding a park for the Boxing Day sales. People will battle traffic, wait in lines and fight over car spots to save 20 per cent on clothes and TVs. Unlike the Boxing Day sales, this is not just a one day special. This is a permanent 20 per cent saving on something that you actually need—your health. In some ways, this is the closest thing to time travel we can give Australians.

The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was back in 2004, the year Facebook launched. That was back when most of us were walking around with flip phones and the indestructible Nokia 3310s, and I didn't have this luscious beard. We've come a long way since 2004, but it's about time medicine prices went back there.

This bill builds on the work that we have been doing since 2022 to make medicines cheaper. In 2023 we delivered the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, slashing the maximum cost of a general script from $42.50 to $30. I know firsthand how much that change meant because people tell me about it when I'm in and around the Hunter. I'm sure they do in your seat, too, Deputy Speaker Freelander.

Take Henry, one of my constituents. Henry is on six regular PBS medications, for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, arthritis pain and stomach issues. Before 2023, Henry was paying $42 per script. That added up to $255 per month, every month, just on medications. This is not a great spend. This is not a luxury. This is the cost of managing health and staying alive. When we dropped the price to $30 per script, Henry's monthly bill fell to $180. That was a saving of $75 every month or $800 every single year, and it completely changed the way he managed his health and also his finances. He told me that in the past, when money was tight, he would skip the pain medication to save a bit, putting himself in way more pain than he had to. That meant flare-ups, less mobility and more stress. Now, because of that change, he doesn't have to skip his meds. He can afford to take the treatment his doctor prescribes for him. In fact, with the money he saves, he has even starting paying for a fortnightly physio session to help him manage his arthritis. He tells me he's walking most days now and feeling better than he has in years. That is the power of cheaper medicines. They have not cured Henry's condition and never will, but they have given him the tools to manage it. They have given him dignity, independence and a better quality of life. When this $25 cap comes in, Henry will save even more. Who knows—he might even be at the start line of a marathon before long.

Let me bring this home to the Hunter. We have families in Cessnock who are already making tough choices about which bills to pay first. We have pensioners in Kurri Kurri who are stretching every dollar of their fortnightly pay. We have young families in Singo juggling mortgage repayments and childcare costs. And across Lake Macquarie, in Morisset and Toronto, I meet people every week who tell me the cost of medication is one of their biggest worries.

When the price of a script drops from $31.60 to $25 it will be a genuine relief for these families. It means a mum in Dora Creek can afford both her asthma inhaler and her kids' new school shoes. It means a retiree in Wyee doesn't have to skip blood pressure medication to keep the lights on. It means a young tradie in Branxton can pay for the pain meds he needs to keep turning up on the tools every day of the week.

This is not abstract. This is not numbers on a page. This is real money in the hands of real people in our communities, and it makes a massive difference. But we have not stopped there. We have introduced 60-day prescriptions, cutting the number of trips to the pharmacy in half for people with chronic conditions. That saves money and, very importantly, that saves time, because we are all time-poor as well; we all know that. That's why that is so important. We have frozen the cost of PBS medicines so that co-payments will not rise with inflation. This is the first time that that has happened in 25 years. We have delivered more free and cheaper medicines sooner. We have reduced by 25 per cent the number of scripts concessional parents needs to fill before the safety net kicks in. We have locked in a freeze on concession medicines costs so pensioners and concession card holders will not pay more than $7.70 a script until 2030. This makes a huge difference to the households that are already stretched by the cost of living. Because we are committed to cheaper medicines, four out of five PBS medicines are now cheaper. That's thanks to the $689 million investment from our government—an investment that goes directly into the lives and the pockets of ordinary Australians.

It is important to note that this bill also protects discounting pharmacies that currently offer discounts. They will still be able to do that even with the new $25 cap. That means consumers can still shop around and benefit from competition and pharmacies can continue to offer better deals for their communities. So this is not just a win for patients; it's also a win for pharmacies, who play a vital role in our local communities, especially in regional and rural areas, like mine in the Hunter.

We have heard the phrase 'new year, new me'. I know I've said it a few times—ignored it many times too, but I'm trying to do better here! In 2026, it's going to be a new year and a new PBS because, on 1 January 2026, this change comes into effect. It will be no more than $25 for a PBS script. Unlike most new year's resolutions—I'll put my hand up for this—this one is guaranteed to stick because, with the support of this House, it will be the new law of the land.

This is Australia. In this country we believe in affordable access to health care, and affordable medicines are a vital part of that. If you rely on medication to manage a condition, you live your best life. Your ability to access it should never depend on how much money is in your bank account. It should depend on the fact that you are an Australian and you have a government that puts people, not the profits of big pharmaceutical companies, first. This bill makes medicines cheaper. It eases the cost-of-living pressures. It helps people live longer, live better and just be around for our families and our loved ones. That's why I proudly commend this bill to the House.