Sen. Katy Gallagher Talks on ABC Canberra Radio 10 February

ROSS SOLLY, HOST: Significant announcement yesterday from the federal government, $573 million to be pumped into women's health. And you know it's a good policy because the Liberal party quickly came out and supported it and said yep, we'll match that. Katy Gallagher is the Minister, she's also a Labor Senator for the ACT and joins me on the program. Good morning to you, Minister.

SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Good morning, Ross.

SOLLY: So, lots of initiatives in here. Among them, birth control devices, hormonal replacement therapies will be listed on the PBS, lots of stuff and in lots of areas that haven't really been tackled for a couple of decades, Katy Gallagher.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, that's right. So, the new listings on the PBS, as you say, for some of those new-generation oral contraceptive pills, the implants and, oh, I've lost the word for them - the long-acting contraceptive devices and hormone replacement therapies. Yeah, they haven't been addressed for between 30 years-

SOLLY: Why is that, Katy Gallagher? Have we just taken our eye off the ball there, was it not considered a priority, or have we just let down women in this area?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, I think it hasn't been seen as a priority. I mean, in actual fact, the reason why they're getting listed now is because Mark Butler wrote to the PBAC, which is the committee which considers listings, and to the manufacturers of those new drugs and urged them to put in an application to have them listed and be considered. So, really-

SOLLY: Had they not done that themselves before? Did they not think that this might be a good idea?

GALLAGHER: Well, that's right, I mean essentially, they hadn't been urged to list. They are now listed, or they will be from 1 March, and people who have been paying for those contraceptives - you know, the pill, the oral pill in particular - will be able to get it on the PBS. So, it'll save hundreds of dollars. So, this whole package is about more choices, lower cost and better care for women in those areas of reproductive health and also in relation to going through menopause or dealing with UTIs, which many women have during the course of their life, being able to get access to antibiotics and care from a pharmacy as well.

SOLLY: And in a good result for Australian women, Katy Gallagher, as I mentioned, Peter Dutton straight away coming out yesterday saying they will match it. So, that's good news for women.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, yeah. It certainly wasn't an area they prioritised in their decade in government, but we are pleased that it's got bipartisan support. It's a very good package for women. It really will make a difference to millions of women around the country and make things cheaper for them. I mean, women carry health costs that men don't and throughout the course of their life, and this is going to make that cheaper and less of a burden for them.

SOLLY: Yeah, makes you wonder, as I mentioned to you before, why it's taken so long. But in terms of the number of women that this will affect, are we talking hundreds of thousands? How many people will actually be directly affected by these changes?

GALLAGHER: Well, it's certainly hundreds of thousands who are using those medicines now. And over time, it will be millions of women, because now we're going to have those, Yas and Yasmin, listed on the PBS. But also, importantly for women who are sort of around my age, those hormone replacement therapies as well, some of those being listed in addition to the ones that are already listed. So, definitely hundreds of thousands right now, but definitely millions as the years go by.

SOLLY: It's 8:41 AM on ABC Canberra Breakfast. On a couple of other issues while I've got you here, Minister, what lessons are there for your party to take from the Victorian state by-election results on the weekend?

GALLAGHER: Well obviously, you know, you look at what happens in a state by-election, but I really do feel that those are really focused on state issues. So for us, it's really about continuing to look at ways to help people with cost-of-living and to paint our view and our future with the policies that we'll take to the election. So, some of it's like the women's health package, investing in Medicare, better services for people, and we'll continue to do that. There'll be a real choice at the election between Anthony Albanese's vision and Peter Dutton's vision about cuts and nuclear reactors around the country.

SOLLY: Well yeah, I mean it is often, and you always hear federal politicians saying well, these are state-based issues, but I don't know in the end, Katy Gallagher. And you've been around the traps long enough to know that-

GALLAGHER: Thanks for reminding me.

SOLLY: Well, you and I both. But you and I know that for a lot of voters, they just see the government and they just want to vote against the government. And Jacinta Allan, sure enough, she's on the nose down in Victoria and a 10 per cent swing is pretty big in a pretty safe Labor seat. And then you know, there's also a message there for the Greens I'm sure, who have lost their inner-Melbourne seat. But there must be something in there that you must today be thinking, alright, obviously Labor's on the nose down there, is there going to be a little bit of a kicking for us in a couple of months' time?

GALLAGHER: Well, I mean again, I think it's not unusual in a by-election for the electors in that region to send a message to their state government. So, on that level, I don't think that is unusual. But I'm not discounting the fact that this election will be very close, and it will be hard fought, and you know, we don't take anything for granted. So, it's not like we're kind of wandering around thinking there is no contest. There is a genuine contest at this election. It is going to be close, and we will have to outline our plans for the future and all the things we've done to date and what we want to do in the future, and contrast that with Peter Dutton and his cuts.

SOLLY: Couple of texts off the back of your women's health announcement. I'll read this out then you can tell me what your thoughts are on this. This from a GP listener, a female GP listener, the funding for women's health is great but what about closing the gap between male and female life expectancy? And somebody else has said, how about some funding to solve diseases that mainly affect women, like ME/CFS, which severely limits their lives and productivity?

GALLAGHER: Well, there's always a lot more that you can do in health, which is why we want to continue to invest in Medicare. And so I think from the GP that called in, I mean part of what we've been trying to do - the women's health package is a subset of what we're trying to do in Medicare. Not only because we want people to be able to access Medicare and have bulk-billing rates improve, but also to take pressure off the public hospitals system, which we know, in Canberra in particular, we have really high utilisation of it. But this investment in women's health doesn't mean that you don't invest in other areas of health, you do and you have to, but we have made a particular decision to make sure that when it comes to women's reproductive health, pelvic pain, endometriosis, menopause - these have been areas that have been underattended to and we are addressing that with this package.

SOLLY: You mentioned ACT Health. Just on that issue, you are a former Chief Minister here, you're also a former Health Minister. Your predecessor Jon Stanhope was on the program this morning and I know that he's not been a friend of the Labor party for some time here in Canberra. But basically he's saying that this government especially, the Barr Government, has been reckless and has shown a lack of discipline and that it's got Canberrans into a great mess with the budget. When Jon Stanhope says those sorts of things, Katy Gallagher, should he be listened to?

GALLAGHER: Well, Jon's a good friend of mine and we worked closely together. I didn't hear the interview, but I know he-

SOLLY: What were you doing, did you have other things on at the time?

GALLAGHER: Well, we've got a sitting day. In fact I'm hiding out in my caucus room, in fact I've got another meeting behind me that I'm meant to be at. But anyway -

SOLLY: This is more interesting though, this is more fun. Go on.

GALLAGHER: No, no, I wanted to talk to you, Ross. So, that doesn't surprise me. And I also know the ACT has a very narrow revenue base, we've got very high utilisations of our health services here, so it isn't an easy balance to strike. So, you know, I'm not going to sit here and tell them how to suck eggs or anything. But funding services off a narrow revenue base and as the demand increases is very, very difficult.

SOLLY: But Jon Stanhope was saying that that takes prioritising and that maybe that means that spending billions of dollars on the light rail is not the best use of money when our health system is struggling. Is that a good point? Does he have a point there?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think being in government is all about choices and opportunity costs of different decisions that you make. I would think that people, investing in public transport is something that all governments do at the same time as they're trying to invest in health services. It's not an either-or situation, I would argue. And the light rail has brought significant economic benefits to this city, which has helped the budget as well. So, these, you know -

SOLLY: But if it's draining on the health budget though, Katy Gallagher, as Jon Stanhope said - in the end, what's more important, the health of Canberrans or getting this light rail through?

GALLAGHER: Well, I agree, I think in state and territory governments, health is the main deal, that's the one you've got to address. And I think, from my assessment of the decisions they've taken, that's what they're doing. I mean, opening new hospitals comes with new costs attached to it. So, it's a big - and we've seen a big uptick in utilisation again of the public hospital here. It continues to grow with insatiable demand and the government's got to meet those costs, which is behind some of the decisions they've taken in the supplementary appropriations. But it's a really challenging time to be in government anywhere, I think, with seeing the demographic changes, the ageing of the population and in particular in the ACT, a very, very narrow revenue base.

SOLLY: Yeah, just on that, the Health Minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith, said that the blowout in the health budget is because of unanticipated demand. Now, you were a former health minister, Katy Gallagher. That's the job of a health minister, isn't it? To keep across that? And certainly the job of the bureaucrats, to keep across it. There shouldn't be unanticipated demand, they should be able to see that coming, shouldn't they? I know you can't help people getting sick but, you know, if you know you've got an ageing population, you know that there aren't a lot of bulk-billing doctors in the ACT, it's a fairly good bet that there's going to be an increased strain on your health budget, isn't there?

GALLAGHER: Yeah, and I guess the health department in my experience when I was there did the best of modelling what they believed future demand would be. Most of the time, they got that right. Sometimes, particularly when you start new services or add new beds, some of that modelling didn't hold, because you can't - modelling isn't 100 per cent right all the time. So, it's not unusual in a health system to have unanticipated demand. And I think there's a couple of other things that are particularly unique about the ACT, which is our proximity to New South Wales, so some of the flows from New South Wales into our hospitals -

SOLLY: Which we do get funding for from New South Wales.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, so there's been an argument over the years over whether that totally meets all the costs of doing that. Plus, I think the fact - you know, in my time, we added new things. New services that people used to have to travel to Sydney for. So, we're building up a system that really for a population the size of the ACT, we are very well serviced with the level of speciality that occurs in our public hospital system. People trust it, they like it, and they use it. So, that does come with I guess increased activity and it's a continued challenge about how you meet that.

SOLLY: I'm not sure the health system is as loved as it once was in the ACT, but I get what you're saying. Just a final question, because I know you have to get back to this meeting, but the Minister also suggested - Rachel Stephen-Smith - that maybe we should be getting more from the Commonwealth. Do you think the Commonwealth gives enough money to the ACT for its health services or do you think there might be a bit of room for a bit more?

GALLAGHER: Well, we've just given an extra $50 million this year alone on top of what we would normally provide. So, we have recognised that, plus we are investing in extra funding into the walk-in centres so they can continue to develop their services, plus we're investing in bulk-billing. Our job is to make sure the primary healthcare system is working as well as it can. It was on its knees when we came to government, we've arrested the decline but there's more to do there. And so, you know, I guess there's differing levels of responsibility. Primary care, Rachel and her team run the public system, but we've definitely put more money in and we'll continue to talk to the ACT because this is all of our hometown. It's important that the health system is as strong as it can be.

SOLLY: Katy Gallagher, I better let you get back to that meeting, thanks for your time this morning.

GALLAGHER: Thanks a lot, Ross.