When we came to government in 2022 the Bureau of Statistics told us that each year about one million Australians didn't fill out prescriptions their doctor said they needed. That's why we're so focused on making medicines cheaper and why this week the Albanese government will introduce laws to deliver on the Prime Minister's promise to make medicines even cheaper and to slash the maximum co-payment for general patients to just $25 a script. The last time it was this low was in 2004, which was 21 years ago. More than five million patients will benefit from this fifth wave of cheaper medicines from our government. It will be good for hip pockets but, importantly, it will be good for health.

It builds on the work we've already done. In just our first three months in government, we've slashed the maximum amount that pensioners would pay for their medicines across a given year by 25 per cent. It has also delivered 73 million additional free scripts, saving pensioners over half a billion dollars. It's the biggest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS. Labor created the PBS, and we will always back it in, because cheaper medicines are good for the health of our nation.