Election 2022: Labor drug policy ‘always part of the plan’

Anthony Albanese says Labor had decided on the $12.50 cut to medicines on the PBS before the Coalition unveiled its plan to cut the same medicines by $10.

Labor says it will cut the cost of PBS medicines by $12.50 per script.

Anthony Albanese says Labor had decided on the $12.50 cut to medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme before the Coalition unveiled its plan to cut the same medicines by $10.

The Labor leader made the revelation while visiting a pharmacy on the central coast of NSW while speaking to staff and patients about what the cut to medicines would mean.

When asked by The Australian if Labor had revised its plan to cut medicines to beat the government scheme, Mr Albanese insisted the $12.50 saving had “absolutely” always been the federal opposition’s intention.

“Pharmacists had told me about people coming in and they have a couple scripts and they’ve got to make a decision over which one they’re going to fill,” he said.

It follows opposition finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher accusing the Coalition of “getting wind” of Labor’s plan and rushing to make a cut to PBS medicines themselves.

Scott Morrison called his proposed $10 cut “the single most significant change to the cost of and access to medications since the PBS was introduced more than 70 years ago”.

Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon – who grew up on the central coast – visited a pharmacy in Wadalba where staff told them the feedback from patients had been that the PBS medicine saving of $12.50 would “make a big difference”.

Dobell Labor MP Emma McBride, a former chief pharmacist, said about one in five people locally were unable to afford to fill their medicines.

“We know that it particularly affects women and families … and this will have a huge impact,” she said.

Wadalba local and frequent customer at the pharmacy Maggie Issa told the Labor leader she struggled under the pressure of needing to buy medicines to keep her blood pressure in check.

“I hold out as long as I can (to fill the scripts) and figure out which I can wait on,” she said.

Mr Albanese said his mother had also struggled to buy all the medications needed to treat her rheumatoid arthritis among other conditions and used to say she “rattled” when she walked because of all the pills she carried with her.

Labor’s candidate for Robertson Dr Gordon Reid said people had ended up in his emergency department in the middle of the night because they had not been taking medication because they could either not afford it or were trying to make it last.

“They might take that (daily) medication once every two to three days and as a result their chronic illness becomes an acute emergency and they end up ­seeing me in the middle of the night,” he said.