Television interview with Minister Butler, ABC News Breakfast – 20 March 2025

BRIDGET BRENNAN, HOST: Well, Labor is promising to cap the cost of PBS listed medicines at $25 if re-elected. The move comes as American medical giants take aim at the PBS calling for the Trump Administration to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs. The Federal Health Minister is Mark Butler, and he joins us now from the Gold Coast. Good morning to you, Minister.
 
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: Morning, Bridget.
 
BRENNAN: How would this plan work? And how much would medicines cost for Australians under this plan?
 
BUTLER: This is the fifth instalment in cheaper medicines since we were elected in 2022. Back in 2023 we slashed that maximum cost for a PBS script down to $30. And that's delivered savings of hundreds of millions of dollars to patients already. We're announcing today, next year will slash it again down to $25. And without the efforts we've made that maximum cost next year would have skyrocketed to more than $50 for a PBS script. Now we know that making medicines cheaper is obviously good for people's hip pocket, but it's also good for their health. Because when we came to government, we were told that as many as a million Australians were not going to the pharmacy to fill their scripts that their doctor had said was important for their health because of costs. It's not just good for household budgets, it's also good for the health of Australians.
 
BRENNAN: Just explain how you deal directly with manufacturers and drug. companies to ensure a lower price here in Australia.
 
BUTLER: The maximum that people pay for a PBS listed medicine is set by Australian law. As I said, if we hadn't been in government over the last couple of years, it would have been more than $50 by next year. We've brought that down now in two instalments. We'll get it down to $25, and that means that the rest of the price is paid by the government effectively. The only payment that patients have to make is no more than $25. This will save those patients more than $200 million each and every year, on top of the $1.3 billion we've already saved patients at the pharmacy counter through our previous cheaper medicines measures.
 
BRENNAN: We've now got lobbyists for major pharmaceutical giants in the US taking aim at our PBS, an institution of Australian life that I'm sure many of us hold dear. This trade war is entering dangerous territory now, isn't it?
 
BUTLER: This is not the first time that Big Pharma in the US has pushed against our PBS. Obviously, their interest is in selling their medicines at top dollar. Our interest is in making medicines cheaper for Australian patients. There's obviously a tension there. We've just got to make it absolutely crystal clear as a government that we will not negotiate over the PBS. We will not negotiate over cheaper medicines. This is utterly central not just to people's household budgets, but as I said to a well-functioning healthcare system. We have one of the best in the world, and the PBS is central to that. We had to have this fight more than 20 years ago, when John Howard was negotiating the US Free Trade Agreement. Big Pharma tried this way back then, and Labor insisted in the Parliament on amendments to the law to safeguard the PBS against any negotiation as part of broader trade deals. We've got to do that again.
 
BRENNAN: Yeah, it's a serious threat, though. We're dealing with a very different administration, I'm sure you'd agree Minister. Have you spoken to the Trump Administration about this? And how will you ensure that the medicines that we're getting in the US, from the US, stay at a similar price going forward?
 
BUTLER: Because we determine the price here in Australia and a Labor government will never negotiate over the PBS. We created it 75 years ago. 20 years ago we insisted that John Howard put amendments through the Parliament to protect our cheaper medicines arrangements here in Australia, and we've spent the last three years, frankly, against the votes of Peter Dutton, trying to make medicines even cheaper. It's about government determination. And your viewers should be reassured that under a Labor Government, we will never negotiate over the PBS. Now, as for tariffs, of course we're continuing to make the case in the US through Ambassador Rudd, but through our ministers and officials as well, that it's in no one's interest to start putting on tariffs on pharmaceutical trade. We export a couple of billion dollars of pharmaceuticals to the US every year, but they export $3.5 billion to us. We're both benefiting from free trade. And really, we're just continuing to make the case that tariffs should not be considered in this area as in other areas of the economy.
 
BRENNAN: I reckon a lot of people listening this morning would say, right, terrific, that I'm going to get a cheaper script under this plan, but it's already costing me so much money to go to the doctor to get the prescription. Is it still the case that so many Australians are just skipping the GP because it's too expensive?
 
BUTLER: That's right and that's why this is such an important part of a broader plan to make it cheaper to go to see a GP. Our bulk billing investment that the Prime Minister and I announced a few weeks ago, will lift the number of free visits to the GP, we're very confident to more than 9 in 10. It will deliver an additional 18 million free visits to the GP every single year. Making sure it's affordable to go to the doctor and we can then get affordable medicines on the scripts that our doctors write for us is all part of a well-functioning healthcare system. That's why we're just so committed to a universal healthcare system here in Australia through Medicare, not the American style user pay system that is the alternative.
 
BRENNAN: Minister, let's go to Gaza, where there's a really catastrophic situation unfolding. We know that some Australian medics are there as well as aid workers. What are your concerns around the safety for Australian medics in Gaza? Do you have a figure for us? Have you had any contact with those under that medical mission in Gaza? And have we sent a strong enough message to Israel about the danger of this latest bombardment on civilians, aid workers and hostages?
 
BUTLER: All of that obviously is undertaken by the Foreign Minister and other global facing ministers. She's working day and night on this issue and others that impact Australia from around the world. But we've made it very clear we want to see this ceasefire put back in place. We want to see both parties adhere to the ceasefire, and that includes, frankly, Hamas releasing hostages that have now been kept for almost 18 months. Of course, seeing this conflict flare up again is a cause of great distress to Australians. We just urge both parties to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire that were put in place previously.
 
BRENNAN: Alright. Mark Butler, thanks for your time on the program this morning.
 
BUTLER: Thanks, Bridget.