A FURIOUS protest in Parliament House by 200 pharmacists disrupted question time yesterday and sparked a warning from the Federal Health Minister that "they had broken a pledge to negotiate the funding deal in good faith", reported The Sydney Morning Herald.
The protesters shouted obscenities and heckled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before storming out of the House of Representatives, just three days after Labor struck a peace deal with the Pharmacy Guild over its 60-Day Dispensing policy.
Health Minister Mark Butler told Parliament he had agreed with the Pharmacy Guild last week to bring forward talks on the next funding agreement to Mar 2024 after the industry had called for $3.3 billion in extra funding to help with the impact of the prescription changes and other cost pressures.
But he sent a warning to the pharmacies that the government expected the good faith to be "reciprocated" in the months of talks over the new deal.
"That commitment was contingent upon a decision by the Guild to stand down their campaign against this measure," Butler said, after the pharmacists had heckled from the public galleries and drawn warnings from officials.
"A reasonable person in this building might question whether that commitment is being delivered upon," Butler told the publication.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, has asked for a security review into the behaviour of the protesters toward Parliament House staff as well as concerns that members of parliament had signed pharmacists into the building.
Employment Minister Tony Burke, who leads government business in the House, said parliamentary staff had allegedly been subjected to verbal abuse by some pharmacists on their way out.
Independent MP Zali Steggall expressed dismay at the protest and accused the Coalition of supporting the disorderly behaviour in Parliament.
While the Coalition complained about her accusation at Question Time, Coalition MPs gestured to the pharmacists in the public gallery while accusing Butler of failing to consult them on the policy.
The Guild has stated it was not involved in the protest. JG
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