Television interview with Minister Butler, ABC News Breakfast – 2 September 2025

BRIDGET BRENNAN, HOST: Well, time to talk federal politics with the Health Minister, Mark Butler, who joins me now from Canberra. Good morning, Minister.

MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Morning, Bridget.

BRENNAN: Get to a few other issues, but first, good news that cheaper medicine legislation passed the Senate last night. What will this mean for everyday Australians?

BUTLER: About $200 million in savings every single year, on top of the $1.5 billion people are already saving at the pharmacy counter because of the measures we introduced last term. The reason why we have focused so much on cheaper medicines is that it’s obviously good for household budgets, but it’s also good for health because we were hearing too many stories of people not filling the scripts that their doctor had said was important for their health because of costs. Driving that rate down, in this case down to a rate we haven’t seen since 2004 for the price of PBS scripts, is achieving those two aims, really, good health and good for the hip pocket.

BRENNAN: What other reforms are to come in this term of Parliament? Because many Australians watching right now would be thinking, I've got to go to the doctor to get the script, and that's really challenging to do at the moment.

BUTLER: We had a comprehensive range of policies to strengthen Medicare at the last election, as you know, Bridget. This is delivering on one of them. We're rolling out Urgent Care Clinics as we speak, we've got dozens open for tender right now, the 50 additional Urgent Care Clinics we promised. And on 1 November, general practices will receive additional funds if they move to a full bulk billing model as well. More bulk billing, more doctors, cheaper medicines and more Urgent Care Clinics is really at the heart of our healthcare policy, and we're busy delivering on those commitments right now.

BRENNAN: If I can take you, Minister, to the rallies we saw across the weekend. Does it concern you that it appeared relatively easy for white nationalist groups to address large groups of Australians, and even stand alongside some federal politicians?

BUTLER: I think these rallies were deeply unsettling for many Australians. For most Australians who saw from that rally a message of division, intolerance and in some cases violence, including violence against police. They were deeply unsettling rallies for the vast bulk of the Australian community. I know that there are investigations underway at state level. I read that New South Wales Police is investigating whether any hate speech laws in that state were breached. There's obviously, as your headlines showed, also an investigation around that attack on the Aboriginal camp in Melbourne as well. There's a lot of water to go under the bridge about these rallies. But I think what we want to do from the Federal Government is just reinforce the importance of social cohesion, the importance of us being a really successful multicultural community with all of the benefits, economic and social and cultural, that that has delivered to this wonderful country.

BRENNAN: And yet, some people don't seem to think it is a major contributing factor to Australian life. And, I mean, a lot of the rhetoric at the marches was quite confronting to see people go and violently attack that Aboriginal camp in Melbourne. Is this a red flag for the Government that more needs to be done at that early prevention level in terms of white supremacist ideals gaining a foothold?

BUTLER: Of course. And I think what we need to do, obviously, where there was hateful speech, where there was violence, they need to be confronted and where appropriate laws need to be enforced. But the main thing we need to do is counter the hate that came out of so many of those rallies with a message of tolerance and cohesion, and I think that's what our government has been trying to do. That's what so many Australians have been trying to do, to reinforce that the vast majority of Australians recognise that we are a terrific country, so much richer and more prosperous, frankly, because of our multicultural nature.

BRENNAN: There are some concerning allegations out of Queensland being broken by the ABC over the last couple of days about serious bungles and lack of oversight at a Queensland fertility clinic. What's happening at a federal level in terms of better regulation of this system?

BUTLER: This is just the latest really in a series of stories around the IVF industry that I think have really shaken tens of thousands of parents. I'm the father of a beautiful IVF baby myself. I know the level of trust that the parents or wannabe parents place in these IVF companies, and they want to know that their systems are really up to scratch in making sure that they are fully protected. We've seen these stories over the last few months that I think have triggered a pretty determined response by health ministers to increase the level of regulation of this sector. For too long, it's essentially been self-regulated. As a group of health ministers, we're looking now at whether we take over the regulation, including lifting it to a national level, particularly whether we take over regulation of sperm donor laws, because some of these stories are pretty appalling about the operations of some of the sperm donors. And only next week, when we get back together as health ministers, we'll be receiving a detailed report about those proposals.

BRENNAN: You're open to a national regulatory system potentially?

BUTLER: I definitely am. I’m very keen to look at proposals to take over regulation from the industry itself. I think self-regulation isn’t working, and I don’t think it’s inspiring the confidence that parents need. But also because of the nature of IVF, it really cropped up in state children’s hospitals. We’ve got eight different systems of regulation around the country, and I think there’s a very strong argument to consider a single national scheme of regulation that obviously regulates the operators themselves, some of which have come under a spotlight for very good reason over recent months, but also things like sperm donor laws which have been the subject of more recent stories.

BRENNAN: Alright. Health Minister Mark Butler, thanks for your time this morning.

BUTLER: Thanks, Bridget.