JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: Alright, let's get you some more federal politics news now because the Albanese Government is moving to implement its election promise to reduce the cost of PBS prescriptions. The Assistant Health Minister Emma McBride joins us now from Parliament House in Canberra. Emma, welcome to News Breakfast.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be with you.
GLENDAY: Now, this was an election promise. Remind us, how much is this going to reduce the price of a PBS medicine?
MCBRIDE: This is a really important cost of living measure, and as a pharmacist and a local MP, I know the tangible difference that it will make to people and families. When the legislation is passed, it will mean a drop or a cap on the cost of PBS prescriptions to $25 for a general prescription from 1 January next year, which is a more than 20 per cent reduction in in the cost of general prescriptions. And to give your viewers some context, the last time PBS general prescriptions cost this was back in 2004.
GLENDAY: Right, okay, that is some time ago. 21 years, in fact. Now, Donald Trump has flagged there could be tariffs on pharmaceuticals. It's unclear where he's going to land, of course, but is there a prospect that the price of medicines might be forced up at some point if trade talks don't go well?
MCBRIDE: No, the PBS is not up for negotiation. It is not a bargaining chip. Labor introduced a pharmaceutical benefit scheme to make sure that essential medicines were available to all Australians. And with this introduction of legislation to enact our election commitment, it'll mean a cap in $25, which will save Australians about $200 million a year, 5.1 million Australians estimated to benefit.
GLENDAY: And we should just point out as well we're expecting this to get through Parliament relatively quickly. I just want to take you to an issue outside your portfolio, and that is the recognition of a Palestinian state. For some time, that seemed to have pretty broad support within your rank and file of the party room, particularly at a branch level for Labor. What barriers are there, do you think, to the government recognising Palestine?
MCBRIDE: The Prime Minister has been unequivocal about our position as a government in the Middle East, including on Insiders yesterday. We want to see an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid and the remaining hostages released.
GLENDAY: Yeah, but Israel has so far ignored those calls and has been pretty clear about that. If Israel continues to ignore what Australia is asking for, is it time to take tougher action?
MCBRIDE: The Prime Minister said yesterday that Israel had breached international law. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, have been unequivocal in their statements. And as I said, we want to see immediate release of remaining hostages. We want to see a ceasefire and humanitarian aid that is desperately needed to flow.
GLENDAY: Do you have a personal view? Do you think that the Federal Labor Party should be listening to the local branches, people like Bob Carr, former foreign minister, who say now is the time to take this step to recognise Palestine?
MCBRIDE: The Federal Labor Party always listens to Labor branches. We listen widely, and what we're doing is reflecting the view of Australians, and we've been unequivocal. And I fully support the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister in the actions that we've taken to date.
GLENDAY: I just want to tell you, to South Australia just before I let you go, the South Australian government is intervening to try to help prop up Bedford. Is the federal government going to take action in this space to ensure that this disability provider continues to keep its doors open?
MCBRIDE: Our priority as a federal government, and the senior minister responsible for disability has been very clear that we want to see support to all Australians living with disability. And one of our primary focuses this term is to make sure that the NDIS remains sustainable and I'll leave further comments to the South Australian government.
GLENDAY: Alright, Emma McBride, thanks for joining News Breakfast this morning.