Television interview with Minister Butler, Today Show - 20 March 2025

SARAH ABO, HOST: Well, Aussies will be able to access cheaper medication under a re-elected Labor Government pledging a $25 cap on medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. But the PBS is at the centre of fresh trade concerns this morning, with US medical giants calling for tariffs on Australia. We are joined now by Health Minister Mark Butler, from the Gold Coast in Queensland to talk through all of that. Minister, good morning to you. Let's start off with those new caps that you're offering. So, if you cared so much about the cost-of-living pressures Australians are under, why are you only doing this now?
 
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: This is the fifth instalment in cheaper medicines from our government in less than three years. In 2023, we slashed the price from more than $40 just down to $30, and we've said we'll go down to $25 next year. That's in addition to 60-day scripts being available, 60-days supply for the price of a single script. Tens of millions of additional free scripts for pensioners. And all of this is because we know cheaper medicines is important for the hip pocket, and that's good in and of itself, but it's also really important for people's health. Because when we came to government, we were hearing too many stories of people not getting their script filled because of costs. This latest measure, without all that we've done over the last three years, the maximum cost next year would have been more than $50. Now, under a Labor Government, it will be just $25.
 
ABO: But Minister, how are you going to pay for this? I mean, there's already so much pressure on the Budget. The treasurer adding the cost of Cyclone Alfred will also have an impact. How are you going to pay for it?
 
BUTLER: Jim Chalmers stands up on Tuesday night to deliver the Budget. He'll make clear all of our revenue and spending measures. But this is a really important investment in the health of Australians -  
 
ABO: It sure is. But, Minister, we don't know how you can afford their medicines.
 
BUTLER: Yeah, and you will on Tuesday night. Jim Chalmers will outline all of our spending and revenue measures. But making sure that people can go to the doctor when they need to, making sure they can afford the scripts that their doctor then says is important for their health, is a really critical investment in the country's future. Making sure people can go to work, making sure they can participate in society fully. There's nothing more important than our health, and that's why that's at the centre of everything we've done over the last three years, and everything we promised to do in the next three if we're re-elected.
 
ABO: There's a lot of detail we'll be waiting for on Tuesday, that's for sure. But as you know, overnight Big Pharma is pleading for these tariffs, for tariffs on Australia. Calling the PBS egregious and discriminatory. Are you worried about angering Trump here that the US might impose tariffs?
 
BUTLER: Big Pharma in the US is getting busy again. Obviously, they want to sell their medicines here in Australia and everywhere else for that matter at top dollar. While we want to make sure that they are cheaper for Australian patients, there's a bit of a tension there, obviously, and this isn't new. Big Pharma did this 20 years ago when John Howard was negotiating the US Free Trade Agreement. We in Labor thought we needed to go harder to protect the PBS back then. Howard was more on the American side of saying things will be fine. We forced changes to the law to protect the PBS at that time. We will do everything again we can to protect the PBS. It's simply not up for negotiation, whether with America or any other country for that matter.
 
ABO: What does that look like? Are you likely to retaliate and push back on these tariffs, maybe impose some on the US?
 
BUTLER: No, because that would make prices more expensive here for Australian patients. The clear message we want to send to everyone, whether it's to the Americans or to patients here in Australia who might be worried about these reports, is that there is no way we're going to negotiate over the PBS. This is one of the cornerstones of, I think, one of the best healthcare systems in the world. We're not interested in an American style user pays healthcare system in the Labor Party. We're determined to protect Medicare and to protect the PBS.
 
ABO: I guess the issue, I guess, then becomes how many more hits can we cop right? So this likely will be similar to the hit that we've copped from steel and aluminium. Once you start adding all these up, you know, we're talking about lots of jobs in Australia. We're talking about a lot of hip pocket pain in Australia. How do you see through that?
 
BUTLER: We'll continue making the case in the area of pharmaceuticals, for example against the US imposing any tariffs on the exports that we send to the US. We send about $2 billion of pharmaceuticals worth to the US every year. They send $3.5 billion towards us. It's as much or even more in their interest to continue the free trade in pharmaceuticals, as well as steel and aluminium and other things as well. Our negotiators will continue to press that case. Kevin Rudd in Washington, obviously our Ministers like Don Farrell and Penny Wong. But as the Health Minister, I just want to make it as crystal clear as I possibly can. There is no way we will negotiate around the elements of the PBS that has served Australians so well over the last 75 years.
 
ABO: Alright, Minister, thanks for your time this morning