DANIKA MASON, HOST: Labor is this morning ramping up its pitch to Aussie women ahead of the looming election, announcing cheaper medicines for those experiencing endometriosis, undergoing fertility treatment and using contraception but will it be enough to convince voters to give the Albanese Government a second term? Let's bring in today's talkers Health Minister Mark Butler and Nationals Leader David Littleproud. Good morning to you both. Mark, we'll start with you. Are women the key to a Labor victory?
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: This is about three decades of neglect really. Australian women have been telling us over the last couple of years that they weren't getting enough support for things that all women experience; their contraceptive choices, reproductive health, going through perimenopause and menopause, and dealing with conditions like endometriosis that affect as many as 1 in 7 women. Today's announcements of cheaper medicines for endometriosis, a third new contraceptive pill on the PBS, saving hundreds of dollars for many hundreds of thousands of women. It's just about catching up on three decades, frankly, of not enough attention being paid to this area.
MASON: David, Peter Dutton's record as former Health Minister has repeatedly come under fire. Can the Coalition be trusted with health if elected? And is Peter Dutton going to also back these moves for women?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP: Yes, we will back this move as part of a $580 million package for women's health we've already announced. And a disappointingly but the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee actually advised for this to be put on and given preferential treatment 12 months ago and the government's only acting now, that's disappointing. Australian women have gone without this reduction in these medications for over 12 months, and that's disappointing that the government's now only doing that. But Peter Dutton had a strong record as Health Minister. In fact, bulk billing rates under him was 84 per cent, they're now 77 per cent and when we left government they were 88 per cent. So our record is one that you can look at in a lived experience. And the numbers are real from when the coalition had it. And you need a strong economy to be able to pay for that. But this is a welcome move. Unfortunately, it's been 12 months in the making that could have been put in place 12 months ago, where women shouldn't have to have put up for this for the last 12 months.
MASON: Minister, do you want to respond to that? Has this been sitting on the table for a year?
BUTLER: I'm not quite sure what David's talking about there. There are three medicines. They've all been dealt with expeditiously over the nine years of their government. Not a single new pill, not a single endometriosis treatment, not a single menopause treatment. We obviously have to do price negotiations with the company. That's been the way the PBS has operated for 75 years. We have we've done more in the last five months for women's health in these areas than any government has done for decades. And as for bulk billing, I just remind people Peter Dutton tried to abolish bulk billing and impose a tax. Every time people visited the doctor, every time people visited the emergency department. He's got a clear record of supporting an American style user pay system. That's not our approach to Medicare.
MASON: Speaking of -
LITTLEPROUD: Let me help you, Mark. One of the one of those medicines was actually supported and advised to you on the 13th of March last year, and you've done nothing about it. You were advised to actually put it on the PBS and you didn't do anything about it. Two of them were four months ago. So, you know, let's just put the facts on the table. I would have thought the Health Minister would know.
BUTLER: I know you haven't been in the health portfolio, David.
LITTLEPROUD: You have a look at that advice. That's the body that advises you. That's the body that advises you.
BUTLER: And there's then a price negotiation between the government and the company which has operated for 75 years, to get taxpayer value for that. We make sure we get the right price for it so that we can spread the PBS dollar more evenly.
MASON: Look, one thing is very clear from this fiery discussion is that health is going to be key in this upcoming election, but I do want to move on. We’re short on time. Overnight, the Prime Minister joined world leaders on a virtual call to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, Anthony Albanese saying he's open to requests to contribute to future peacekeeping efforts, which could include putting troops on the ground. David, I wanted to come to you on this. What do you make of it?
LITTLEPROUD: Well, look, I welcome the fact the Prime Minister wants to engage, and we welcome the fact that there is a Coalition of the Willing. But we think this is something that Europe can handle. If we move and get peace in the Middle East, and there needs to be boots on the ground to hold that peace together, that's something Europe can handle. We've already been very generous as a nation. Over $1.5 billion has been given to the Ukraine to defend themselves, and we support that. And we should continue to support any, money in terms of hardware that needs to go to defend themselves. But when you've got Chinese boats circling in Australia that we didn't even know about, that we need Virgin pilots to tell us about. I think we need to strategically focus on ourselves, and we don't need to send troops to the Ukraine. We need Europe to look after it, and we need to look after ourselves and the geopolitical threats that we face here in this country. We're a generous country. We've done a lot for Ukraine, and we'll continue to in terms of hardware, but we don't need to send boots on the ground.
MASON: Yeah. Thank you, David. Well, now I wanted to move on very, very quickly to you Mark. All eyes are on Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri at Melbourne Park today. It's another set of wheels that's got everyone talking, though. Lamborghini has released an exclusive baby stroller for an eye watering price tag of $10,000. Mark, it's been dubbed a super stroller. Do you think there's anything actually special about this?
BUTLER: I think the hint is probably in the name Lamborghini. I can say I've got a little one and I bought my latest stroller from Baby Bunting. There's a range of very affordable models there. None have the special Lamborghini or even a Ferrari badge. There's enough costs involved in having a young one. I think you can just leave the Lamborghini stroller on the showroom.
MASON: Look, I'm guilty. I spent more than $1,000 on a pram for my daughter, thinking it would do something really special, and was incredibly disappointed when I found that it did the same thing as all other prams. David, do you think we might see some of these at the F1 today?
LITTLEPROUD: Uh, I doubt it. Look, I think Mark's the only bloke that could afford one. And if he's not buying them, there's no hope for Lamborghini. Let's be honest. No, I don't think anyone's going to be buying that in a hurry, even Mark.
MASON: Particularly with the cost-of-living crisis that we are all feeling at the moment. Thank you so much, Mark Butler and David Littleproud. Thanks for joining us this morning.