16 News

More than 800 Australians with stage IV advanced or metastatic kidney cancer will now have improved access to a heavily subsidised treatment through an expanded listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
From 1 July 2021, Cabometyx® (cabozantinib), will now be available as a first line treatment for Australians with stage IV clear cell variant renal cell carcinoma (RCC). It has been available as a second line treatment for patients with advanced RCC since 2018.
Taken once daily, the oral treatment blocks the action of proteins called receptor tyrosine kinases, slowing the rate at which the tumour grows and improving progression-free survival time compared with some other treatments.
Kidney cancer is the seventh most diagnosed cancer in Australia, with an estimated 4,000 Australians diagnosed in 2020. RCC accounts for 90 per cent of all kidney cancers and is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Cabometyx® can cost around $120,000 a year without subsidy, but will now be available for $41.30 per script, or as little as $6.60 for patients with a concession card.
Since 2013, the Australian Government has approved more than 2,600 new or amended listings on the PBS.
This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month – or one each day – at an overall investment by the Government of $13.2 billion.
Providing the best quality care and support to Australians with deadly cancers is a high priority for our Government.
As part of the 2021-22 Budget we announced a number of measures to support our already strong national cancer screening programs and in April, we held a Ministerial Roundtable with Cancer Australia, the first step in the development of a visionary ten-year Australian Cancer Plan.
These initiatives consolidate Australia as a world leader in the early detection and treatment of cancer.

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the national housing crisis can no longer be ignored, as new data reveals that residential property prices rose 5.4 per cent in the March quarter alone.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Australia is facing nothing less than a full-blown housing crisis.
“People just want a place to live and call home. That’s it. But for more and more people, this is like something of a fantasy.
“The Morrison government clearly has no plan — and no interest in developing a plan — to deal with it. It’s outrageous. Even backbench Liberal MPs are starting to speak up and call for policy change.
“The government must urgently act on the housing crisis. They can start with a big social housing build and by scrapping the tax loopholes that have turned housing into a big game for speculators and investors.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are stuck on public housing waiting lists. Hundreds of thousands are being priced out of an unaffordable, out-of-control housing market.
“The Greens have a plan to build one million homes over twenty years, scrap the unfair tax exemptions, and ensure everyone has a roof over their head,” she said.

The Australian Greens are deeply concerned to see the ceasefire broken with risks of further deaths in Israel and Palestine, a mere three days into the Bennett-Lapid Government’s term.
Australian Greens foreign affairs spokesperson, Senator Janet Rice, said:
“The Australian Greens condemn the extremist language of the ultranationalist marchers in East Jerusalem, and the subsequent escalation in violence today.
“Before the last ceasefire, the Israeli military flattened homes, offices and key infrastructure in Gaza. In 10 days 232 Palestinians were killed. At the same time, rockets fired from Gaza also stole the lives of 12 Israelis.
“Both Israelis and Palestinians should be able to live in peace and security. Fragile ceasefires alone will not be enough to pave the way for Palestinians and Israelis to enjoy a stable, lasting and just peace.
“Every day Palestinians live under Israeli Government control, and for 73 years Palestinians have waited for the international community to deliver on their promise of peace, and Australia is not pushing for peace.
“We must resolve the underlying issues, not just watch while any hope for a just peace is undermined by the next round of forced displacements, demolitions, settlements, terror and violence. Australia must loudly call for an end to the Occupation and recognise Palestine, because only then will Israelis and Palestinians both be able to live in peace and security.”

The Morrison Government will invest $5.9 million on cancer prevention among women in vulnerable communities across the world through the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD).
Funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), three of the four projects will support research to implement cervical cancer screening in India, Papua New Guinea and Eswatini.
Funding is also committed to allow SISTAQUIT (Supporting Indigenous Smokers to Assist Quitting) to expand its free, online training in quit smoking methods to all Australian health services catering to Indigenous women during pregnancy.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the projects would help women across the globe and here at home.
“Cervical cancer is highly preventable but, according to the World Health Organisation, poor access to prevention, screening and treatment contributes to 90 per cent of cervical cancer related deaths,” Minister Hunt said.
“These projects will support improved health outcomes here and across our region, helping to both save lives and protect lives.”
Australia, through the NHMRC, is a founding member of the GACD, the first international collaboration of major research funding agencies that specifically addresses chronic non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and in vulnerable communities in high-income countries (HICs).
NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso, who is a member of the GACD Strategy Board and past chair, said NHMRC’s participation in the GACD provided an important opportunity for Australian researchers to help reduce the burden of chronic diseases in vulnerable communities around the world.
“By working with other international funding agencies through the GACD, we can amplify our impact on non-communicable diseases in the communities that are most affected and have least access to the advances of modern medicine,” Professor Kelso said.
“This is more important than ever today as chronic diseases can increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.”
In 2015, 2017 and 2018, NHMRC provided a total of $14.7 million in funding through GACD for research on prevention or management of hypertension and diabetes, mental disorders and chronic lung disorders.

The Greens welcome the Federal Court judgement on the robodebt class action that found the Commonwealth “unlawfully”  raised $1.7 billion in debts against 443,000 people, but say that the Government has still fundamentally failed to be accountable for the illegal robodebt program.
“Citizens shouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail for justice and take their own Government to court to get any measure of accountability”, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said.
As Justice Murphy said, this is a shameful chapter.
Many, including the Greens consider that this chapter is still open because the Government continues to obfuscate and deny the harm their program caused.
Robodebt cost lives, it has ruined many many more and has been the cause of immeasurable pain and anguish.
We still don’t know what the Government knew and when and they are still desperate to cover it up.
The Government thinks they can get away with only refunding victims served notices after 2015.
They have clearly demonstrated they are not willing to hand over the legal advice they have relating to robodebt and have hidden behind ‘public interest immunity claims’.
I can see no other way forward than through a Royal Commission ensuring a full, independent review of this program and a forensic audit of this mess.
A Royal Commission is the only way to get to the bottom of how this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

While Scott Morrison attends G7 and the world plans to transition away from fossil fuels the Australian Government has made a mockery of itself by inviting oil and gas companies to exploit 80,000km2 of new offshore acreage, to help with a “gas led recovery”.
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Peter Whish-Wilson, said Australia has no environmental credibility left under the Morrison Government.
“Today’s news that 80,000km2 of our ocean has been handed over for oil gas exploration exposes the Prime Minister’s attendance at the G7 a complete travesty.
“So long as Scott Morrison’s Government is beholden to The Nationals, Australia will have no credibility on matters relating to reducing emissions.
“In this time of climate emergency there is no excuse for Governments to be handing over new areas of our oceans for exploration to find the very product that is killing our oceans.
“We know the Liberals and Labor are beholden to fossil fuel donations, but it’s got to stop – this level of hypocrisy is out of control.
“Coastal communities right around the nation are opposing offshore fossil fuel exploration in this time of climate emergency.
“Only last week a Senate Inquiry into seismic testing tabled its final report – the Committee heard the current regulatory framework does not provide sufficient environmental or economic protection from the impacts of seismic testing, and Report recommendations make it clear that more research is urgently needed.
“The ability for this Government to dismiss not only community concerns, but report after report calling for climate action is frankly quite frightening.
“Scott Morrison is not only an embarrassment to this nation but is threatening its future by failing to take seriously the impacts of climate change.”

The Australian Government is investing $11.7 million in medical research for pharmacists to support patients with the safe use of medicines.
All Australians will take some form of medication throughout their lives for a number of reasons, but using medicines are not without risk.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia estimates 400,000 people present to emergency departments with medication problems each year, and 250,000 are hospitalised. They believe half of these events could be prevented.
The 2020 Quality, Safety and Effectiveness of Medicine Use and Medicine Intervention by Pharmacists grant recipients tackle some of the common prescription drug issues for at-risk groups.
This includes the growing number of Australians – more than 1.7 million people – who aren’t aware they have symptoms of chronic kidney disease (CKD). For this group, some medications are dangerous and can cause toxicity in the kidneys.
As part of this program, University of Sydney researchers will receive almost $1.9 million to pilot a CKD screening program by community pharmacies, to identify and manage patients with the disease.
The University of Sydney will also receive $2.3 million to develop an integrated referral pathway for Australians with osteoporosis, to help decrease the risk of falls by reducing the use of medicines that lead to falls and improve the use of anti-osteoporosis medicines for bone strength.
The outcomes of the research undertaken through the grants will help inform ongoing work to ensure pharmacist fulfil their full scope of practice and could also inform the future Community Pharmacy Agreements.
The grant program is funded through the Australian Government’s Preventive and Public Health Research Initiative, which forms part of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The initiative is about supporting innovative approaches to public health challenges, particularly treating and managing chronic and complex diseases and improve the use of medicines.
The Government’s $20 billion MRFF is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system.
Further information about the MRFF is available on the Department of Health website.