THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

THE HON DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP

LEADER OF THE NATIONALS

SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

TRANSCRIPT

PRESS CONFERENCE

Wednesday, 10 August 2023

Topics: 60-day dispensing disallowance motion, Australia’s migration levels

E&OE……………………………………

SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Thank you very much for being here this morning. Well, firstly, can I absolutely reiterate that the Coalition supports Australians getting access to cheaper medicines and we support 60-day dispensing. What we are opposed to is the botched way that the Labor Party has sought to roll out this policy. So, this morning, Minister Butler sought to politicise this issue. And so, what we are saying to Minister Butler today is we will give you the time to resolve the issues that literally hundreds and hundreds of pharmacists have raised with me and other members of the Coalition team - and members of the Labor Party, as well I might say - as we've travelled around the country over the last few months. So, we will seek to delay the disallowance motion to enable Minister Butler the opportunity to get back to the table and resolve these legitimate concerns, because what we are saying is that we want to make sure that this policy is implemented with no pharmacy closing, but also with no Australian being worse off. So, if we can resolve these issues, we are absolutely committed to supporting 60-day dispensing and the cost-of-living measure and benefit that it delivers to Australians.

SUSSAN LEY MP: Thank you very much, Anne. And to you and your team in the Senate, thank you for the sterling work that you've done, making so clear that the Coalition supports cheaper medicines. Thank you David Littleproud, as Leader of the Nationals, for making the case so strongly, and David will continue to do that for rural and regional pharmacies. But it is every pharmacy in Australia that is affected by this. Now Australians are going to hear a lot today about cheaper medicines, about Senate motions, about what goes on in this building. They're going to hear from pharmacists that this is bad policy. They're going to hear from Anthony Albanese that this is good policy. My question to Australians is who do you believe on cheaper medicines, Anthony Albanese or your local pharmacist? And how can you get cheaper medicines from your local pharmacist if that pharmacy is closed?

DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP: Thanks to Sussan and to Anne. The Nationals took a principled position on this from the start. We all want cheaper medicines, but not at the expense of regional and rural Australians. In essence, we have 432 pharmacies in towns where they are the last line of primary care to those Australians. I just say to our metropolitan cousins, please appreciate that this policy, if implemented in its entirety as it is now, would put rural and regional Australians lives at risk. This is about making sure that every Australian is looked after and we want these cheaper medicines, but there has got to be a better way to do this. And particularly when you see modelling that 600 pharmacies could close, these men and women in these community pharmacies have mortgages and if they can't pay it, they actually reduce their staff and they shut down their shops. There's over 20,000 employees that could be at risk of this, in what is a feminised industry. This is bad policy in the implementation, not in its intent. And so we want these cheaper medicines. But this is about a moment of political leadership, of political leadership that the Nationals and Liberals are prepared to put our hand out and to work forward with this government. But they need to have the courage of their convictions to come forward and to take this actual action of goodwill that we are saying to them to go back to the table and to negotiate and to get this right. Because if they don't, the consequences for the people that the Nationals represent, the consequences for us are real. It is a real human toll that we will pay. So I would just say to Mark Butler, we're showing political courage, we're showing political leadership, and it's now time for you to show that, to put your hand out and to get back to the table with the industries and make sure that you get this right.

JOURNALIST: Senator Ruston, can I ask you to clarify, will there be a vote on the disallowance motion today, or how long will you delay that for?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, we are making the offer not to move the disallowance today. That gives the Government the opportunity over the break to actually, genuinely, put their money where their mouth is when it comes to their commitment to making sure Australians do get the cost-of-living benefit from this particular measure. So we won't move the disallowance today. We will postpone it until a later date to give the Government the opportunity to actually show the good faith that they say this morning - and Minister Butler said this morning that I hadn't given him enough time. Well, I'm offering him time to get back to the table and to deal with some of these issues that have been raised by hundreds of community pharmacists.

JOURNALIST: But they've said no to a pause, so will there be a vote today or unilaterally delaying the vote?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, if they choose to go to a vote today, then I think that is just a demonstration of how disingenuous they really are when it comes to not politicising this particular issue. As I said, we think it is great policy, we just want to see it implemented right. We want to see it implemented in a way that Australians aren't worse off and that pharmacies don't close. Because if pharmacies close, Australians will be worse off. So what we're saying is that we won't move the motion today to disallow. We will give the Government the opportunity to, in good faith, actually deliver on what they say they want to deliver on, and that is cost-of-living relief for Australians through cheaper medicines by implementing this policy in a way that doesn't have the unintended consequences that it appears it may well have.

JOURNALIST: But there's every likelihood that, without this disallowance motion, that the Government's policy will pass today?

SENATOR RUSTON: No the policy doesn't pass today. The disallowance motion sits on the table for 15 days. That 15 days is not up until I think the 8th of September. So there is an opportunity between now and the 8th of September for the Government to actually seek to sit back down with stakeholders and resolve these issues, so that we can get the best of both worlds. We can get a great policy implemented, but not at the cost of pharmacies closing and Australians being worse off.

JOURNALIST: When you say you want to it paused though and the Government to reconsider, a disallowance motion though would scrap it. So it's not really causing anything?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, what we're saying is we won't move the disallowance today. We'll give the Government the opportunity to make some changes around the policy implementation in that period of time, in consultation, because what we're saying is there has been no real consultation. So go and consult with the people who are going to be impacted by this measure and bring it back with an implementation program that sits behind it that everybody can see will actually deliver the outcomes for the cost-of-living relief that Australians have been promised. So we would then seek - you know, if the Government is able to resolve the issues, we would never seek to disallow. We would congratulate the Government for putting forward a good policy. We are just seeking for them to get the implementation right.

JOURNALIST: What does 'resolve the issues' mean, though? What exactly do they need to do?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, I think the most obvious thing would be to bring forward the negotiation on the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement and the actual introduction of that agreement. So far, we've seen Minister Butler say that he will bring forward the negotiations, but he's given no indication that he's bringing forward the actual implementation or the starting of that agreement. So, we need to get back to the table and put forward a package that's genuine, in relation to making sure that Australians get cheaper medicines without those unintended consequences. So we say, why can't you negotiate the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement really quickly, get it back in place so Australians can get the benefit of this measure?

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask on another matter, possibly to the Deputy Opposition Leader?

SENATOR RUSTON: Is there any more questions on community pharmacy, and then we can open it up shortly?

JOURNALIST: Senator Ruston, Minister Butler said this morning said that applications for new pharmacies haven't slowed since the first announcement of this policy. Isn't that a good indication that pharmacy remains a viable business even with this potential policy?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, I think, you know, one thing Minister Butler could probably do, instead of just relying on his Department to tell him about applications, is actually get out there and speak to community pharmacists. I have not walked past the door of a pharmacy in the last four months without walking in, introducing myself and asking them about this issue. Not one pharmacist has said to me that they are not concerned about the implications of this implementation of this measure on their staff, on their patients, on the viability of their business. So I would say to Minister Butler, the best consultation you could do would be actually to get out there and pound the pavements like I've done. I mean, my local pharmacies in the Riverland, the Renmark Pharmacy, the Berri Pharmacy, the Loxton Pharmacy, have all contacted my office with concerns. I think that's where you should start consulting.

JOURNALIST: Is it highly unlikely, though, that the Pharmacy Guild is going to be on board with this in any shape or measure?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, I think you've only got to have a look at - We've had seven community pharmacy agreements have been negotiated over many decades. And so I think, you know, if you've got a genuine desire to actually deliver good outcomes for Australians, then you will resolve these sorts of issues. They've done it seven times before. I don't see there's any reason why they can't do it an eighth time. I think everyone just needs to put down their guns and actually focus on who we really are seeking to support here, and that is making sure that Australians get access to cheaper medicines in a way that's not going to have a detrimental impact on them.

JOURNALIST: The RACGP this morning accused you of putting profit before patients. What do you say to that?

SENATOR RUSTON: Well, I am putting patients first, 100%, and I will reiterate it again and again and again until somebody actually listens to me - The Coalition supports cheaper access to medicine. The Coalition supports 60 day dispensing. We just want to see it done in a way that no patient is worse off and we don't see pharmacies closing, because that will mean the patients in that town are worse off. And as David Littleproud just said, in over 400 places around Australia, the pharmacist is the only health professional in town. If you lose that health professional, what does that do to that community? So I'm not saying that everything that's been said is correct. What I'm saying is you need to get back to the table and you need to resolve these things. Right now, the Government has commissioned a report on the impacts of this measure through McKinsey. They haven't received that report and yet they are still pushing on, on this particular measure. You would think they would wait to see what the consequences were before they pursued it. They've admitted they've done no modelling. They've admitted basically they've done really inadequate consultation. We're just saying, let's actually not throw out a great policy because you've mucked up the implementation.

LEY: Folks, we're just conscious that at 10:30 we are unveiling a very important portrait in the House - Just a couple questions.

JOURNALIST: Just one question for the Deputy Liberal Leader. What level of permanent net migration does the Coalition think is appropriate? This is a big topic right now. Would you revert back to a previous cap of 100,000 per year, if you were back in government.

SUSSAN LEY: The issue is not the number. The issue is the lack of a plan. To bring 1.5 million migrants into this country with no plan and with the cost-of-living spiralling the way it is, is appalling. It is bad policy and it's typical of everything that Anthony Albanese is doing at the moment. No proper plan, no concern, no backing in the Australians he promised that he would not leave behind.

JOURNALIST: So do you believe that migration should slowdown?

Deputy Leader: The issue is not the number. The issue is the plan. Show us the plan, Prime Minister. Demonstrate how it will achieve the aims that you have asked it to do in terms of workforce and population. But without a plan, we just have chaos. Thank you everybody.

ENDS