‘They don’t give a s**t’: Pharmacy Guild boss unleashes on Labor over 60-day script policy

The head of Australia’s pharmacy lobby got emotional about the plan to double the amount of medicine a person can collect.

The head of Australia’s pharmacy lobby has unleashed an emotional spray on the Albanese government over its plan to double the amount of medicine a person can collect with each script — saying they “don’t give a s**t” about the impact on small businesses.

Pharmacy Guild president Trent Twomey choked back tears as he spoke about pharmacists who were facing bankruptcy because of the estimated $170,000 losses each year under the sweeping changes.

Mr Twomey choked up as he spoke about the impact on pharmacies. Picture: Supplied.

He said he had heard from pharmacists who faced bankruptcy. Picture: Supplied.

Health Minister Mark Butler announced on Wednesday that Australians would soon be able to buy 60 days’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription under a major shake-up of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in the upcoming budget.

Mr Butler heralded the policy change as a way of “easing cost of living pressures and making hundreds of common medicines cheaper”, by effectively halving the cost of more than 320 common medicines needed by about six million Australians.

The policy is tipped to save the government $1.2 billion in dispensing fees over four years which the Minister promised would be reinvested entirely into community pharmacies.

Australians will be able to receive a two months’ supply of medicines under the policy change.

That promise was made to placate the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which has long opposed the plan, because the changes could lead to dire supply shortages – worse than pharmacies already face – and would likely crush many community pharmacies.

The Guild estimates pharmacies will lose $2.3 billion in out-of-pocket fees over those same four years; a significantly higher estimate than the government’s $1.6 billion.

And Mr Twomey ripped into the government and the Minister leaving pharmacies out to dry.

“So what (Mr) Butler was saying about ‘we’re reinvesting all the money’, that’s just the savings he’s having,” Mr Twomey told reporters on Wednesday.

“He (Mr Butler) only wants to give back 1.2 (billion) because that’s what the taxpayer’s funding,” he continued.

“But the pharmacist is wearing the complete rest of the cut, and that’s what’s gonna send these guys to the wall. And he just doesn’t seem to give a s**t.”

Health Minister Mark Butler was slammed by the Guild president. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

Mr Twomey did not hold back in his cricitism of Labor. Picture: Supplied.

The spray continued as Mr Twomey rejected the suggestion posited by a reporter he was running a “scare campaign” against the policy change.

“If those spin doctors down there don’t want to believe what I’ve got to say, get off your arse and go talk to these guys (pharmacists),” he said.

He did apologise for his language, saying: “I’m a North Queenslander, I don’t mean to swear, but they just don't care.

“You know, this is supposed to be a government that cares. This is not how one operates.”

The two men have met before, and the Guild was a strong opponent of the policy change. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Despite the Pharmacy Guild’s strong opposition to the 60-day script policy, it was recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and endorsed by doctors groups and the Consumer Health Forum (CHF), which said it will save patients up to $180 per year on each medicine.

Even the head of the nation’s biggest discount pharmacy has broken ranks with the Guild to cautiously back the changes to dispensing rules.

Chemist Warehouse director Mario Tascone said he was open to a push from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Associaion, if pharmacists were given enough warning.

He said they would need at least three years to prepare, warning they would not be able to dispense more than one month’s supply at a time due to supply shortages.

Australian pharmacies are already facing supply shortages, and the Pharmacy guild fears this policy will make them worse. Picture: iStock

But Mr Twomey has been less lenient, describing the policy change as “a kick in the guts” to pharmacies that “can’t even give people the minimum amount they need”.

“The problem is there are 472 medicines listed on the Therapeutic Goods Administrations website that are just completely unavailable,” he told Sky News Australia.

“So how do we give somebody 60 days instead of 30 when we can’t get 30 in stock now?”

“We don’t know how it’s going to work.”

Originally published as ‘They don’t give a s**t’: Pharmacy Guild boss unleashes on Labor over 60-day script policy