Pharmacy Guild’s $250,000 donation to Victorian ALP allegedly against Greg Hunt

When the government wanted to give patients half price medicines, the Pharmacy Guild allegedly took action to oust Health Minister Greg Hunt.

A policy to slash in half the price Australians pay for prescription medicines so angered the Pharmacy Guild of Australia it donated $250,000 to Health Minister Greg Hunt’s political enemies.

The unprecedented donation to the Victorian branch of the ALP represented almost a third of the entire $773,791 it spent on political donations in 2018-19 and around double the amount given to the NSW Labor Party.

News Corp has been told the Guild asked for it to be spent in Health Minister Greg Hunt’s electorate of Flinders – a claim denied by the Guild.

The Guild was allegedly incensed by a measure that would have allowed people to get two months’ worth of scripts dispensed at a time.

The change was recommended by the government’s independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee a body whose advice the Health Minister says he always acts on.

Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Alan Barber

At present scripts have to be dispensed on a monthly basis and cost a concession card holder $6.80 per script and general patients up to $42.50 per script.

By allowing two scripts to be dispensed for a single charge, the reform would have slashed in half the amount people who take regular medications for chronic illnesses paid.

However, the Guild was concerned it would cut chemists’ incomes.

“Profitability of many pharmacies would have been effectively halved, sending them to the wall, with mass loss of jobs and displacement of vital patient services,” the Pharmacy Guild told Guild members in a letter written at the time.

“We believe we have succeeded in dissuading the Government from proceeding with this destructive, unwarranted idea, but we cannot rest until we are confident it is off the table — now and forever,” it said.

In addition, the Guild was upset the Minister refused to end the optional $1 discount chemists are allowed to apply to medicine prices. The Guild says it costs chemists income if they apply it.

Mr Hunt was under threat electorally and facing a serious challenge from disaffected former Liberal MP Julia Banks.

On April 30 2019, the Victoria Trades Hall Council authorised a front page advertisement in the local Mornington News with the banner headline “Who Will Greg Hunt stab in the back next?”

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is one of the most powerful lobby groups in Canberra.

Using its political influence it has shut-out supermarkets from selling prescription medicines and insists on anti-competitive rules that mean only chemists can own pharmacies and restrict where new ones can open.

A spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild said the $250,000 donation was for a paid event at which senior Guild officials were able to meet then Labor Leader Bill Shorten.

Even though the party donated around three times more to Labor than the Coalition in 2018-19 the Guild said its “support of political parties doesn’t favour either side of politics”.

“How funds raised by political parties, through events is spent is up to the relevant political party,” a spokesperson for the Guild said.

“It would be inappropriate and untruthful to suggest that the Guild dictated where such funds should or could be spent.”

Mr Hunt said he was unaware of the Guild’s spend.

A Victorian Labor spokesperson said: “The Victorian Branch discloses all donations in accordance with the relevant electoral Act.”

Ultimately Mr Hunt retained his seat in parliament and the policy for half price meds never went ahead because supply chain problems during Covid-19 made it difficult.