PBS has bipartisan backing after Trump's pharma threat, Coalition says
The PBS is a list of federally subsidised medicines and compels foreign drugmakers to negotiate prices with the government – a deeply unpopular requirement among American companies.
Pharma lobbyists in the US have urged the Trump administration to consider using tariffs on Australia to weaken the scheme, but the Albanese government has been adamant the PBS was not on the table.
Senior Coalition senator Bridget McKenzie said on Thursday it was a position the opposition shared.
'We've got a bipartisan approach to our PBS,' Senator McKenzie told Nine's Today.
'It underpins our universal healthcare system and makes sure no matter who you are in Australia, you can access great, world-class leading drugs for your family's health.'
She said the challenge was 'about getting the right deal, not undermining our PBS, but also recognising we're one of the world leaders in medical research'.
However she also criticised the Albanese government's handling of the relationship with Washington, saying 'the number of things we don't get a heads up on with the US is appalling'.
'As we've been saying … for so long, over 240 days since the election in the US, our prime minister is yet to meet the President,' Senator McKenzie said.
'And that is having flow-on impacts right throughout our economy, not just the PBS with our biosecurity, the beef trade, the tariff issue, and now AUKUS.'
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