Television interview with Minister Butler, Sky News – 20 March 2025

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Up to 20 million Australians eligible for PBS scripts will pay no more than $25 for medicine. Joining us live is the Health Minister, Mark Butler. Minister, thanks for your time this morning. So when will folks see these changes?
 
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: This is the fifth instalment on cheaper medicines since we were elected to government, Pete. In 2023, we slashed that maximum cost from $42 down to $30, and we've said that if we're re-elected on the 1st of January next year, it will go down even further to $25. Now, without our measures, by next year, it would have reached more than 50 bucks as a maximum cost for a PBS script. It's going to be half what it otherwise would have been, in addition to a whole range of other measures that have saved, we think, Australians about $1.3 billion already at the pharmacy counter.
 
STEFANOVIC: Already this morning, support from the Coalition, so it looks like there won't be any issue there. But Minister, how does this help a very sick budget when off budget spending closes in on $100 billion over the next four years?
 
BUTLER: This is on budget spending Pete. Jim Chalmers will stand up, as you know, on Tuesday night and outline all of our revenue and our spending measures. We've delivered two budget surpluses back-to-back, the first time in 15 years, and had a very responsible approach to cost-of-living relief for households, including cheaper medicines. Because we know it's not only good for the hip pocket of so many millions of Australians, it's also good for their health. It's a really good investment in the ability of people to work and participate meaningfully in society. That's why we're going to back him with a fifth instalment in cheaper medicines.
 
STEFANOVIC: America's Big Pharma has lodged a formal complaint with President Trump's team calling our PBS, quote, “an egregious and discriminatory program which cuts prices and blocks American exporters.” How do you counter that, Minister?
 
BUTLER: By defending the PBS or cheaper medicines to the hilt. That's what any responsible government should do here in Australia. It's certainly what a Labor government will do. It should be of no surprise, of course, that Big Pharma from the US want to sell their medicines at top dollar. We want to make medicines cheaper. Of course there's an inherent tension there. This was also a fight back 20 years ago when the US Free Trade Agreement was being negotiated. Back then, Big Pharma tried to get some sort of pressure on our PBS. The Labor Party fought that particularly hard in the Parliament and forced John Howard to put through some laws that really strengthened the defence of the PBS, and I can tell your viewers the Labor Party will do that again.
 
STEFANOVIC: So with all of that said, Minister, do you expect our pharmaceuticals to get a carve out on the next trade deadline on April 2?
 
BUTLER: We hope they will. We're making the case for that, as we have for the last few months, on other areas as well. We sell about $2 billion of pharmaceuticals to the US. They sell about $3.5 billion to Australia. It's obviously in their interests as well to continue tariff free or free trade in pharmaceuticals as it is in so many other areas. But that's a matter for Ambassador Rudd, for the Trade Minister, Don Farrell and Minister Wong. As the Health Minister, my focus is making sure that Australians have confidence under a Labor government there will be no change to the PBS.  It's simply not up for negotiation with any country, whether it's the US or anyone else for that matter.
 
STEFANOVIC: If there is no carve out, is there a backup plan that you're working on?
 
BUTLER: That's a matter obviously we're working on across the economy. It's not just pharmaceuticals that are potentially on the table for further tariffs as we understand it. We're working day and night to make the case to the US Administration. It's not in their interests, let alone ours, to start to put tariffs on areas of the economy that have been tariff free for at least 20 years now. They have a good trade surplus with Australia, it should be in their interest to maintain the existing arrangements.
 
STEFANOVIC: Just a final note here in a story that's been brought forward by the AFR. Minister, your government was highly critical of Peter Dutton attending a fundraiser at Justin Hemmes house before Cyclone Alfred hit. Now, it turns out Anthony Albanese was at one on the same day. So, were your attacks hypocritical?
 
BUTLER: The PM's been very transparent about what city he's been in when I mean, he was on the ground here in Queensland, I'm on the Gold Coast now, at critical times. He was on the ground in northern New South Wales when they were under threat as well. I think the point is leaders need to be transparent about where they are on a day-to-day basis and what they're doing.
 
STEFANOVIC: I mean, the claim was made though, that, you know, Peter Dutton was lining his pockets and essentially not helping the people of northern New South Wales or south east Queensland. But wasn't Anthony Albanese doing the same?
 
BUTLER: Everyone knew that the prime minister was in Sydney that day. They knew when he was travelling to Brisbane to stand with the Queensland Government and the people of Queensland in the face of the really significant threat. He's been very transparent about his diary.
 
STEFANOVIC: Alright. Mark Butler, thank you for your time. We'll chat again soon.