Pharmacists urged to get political

PHARMACY owners are being urged to get on the front foot and lobby their local MPs, to combat the Australian Medical Association’s (AMA’s) calls to deregulate the sector, by Katter’s Australian Party founder, Bob Katter.

The Far North Queensland MP, described the AMA’s plan to expand the sale of medicines to vending machines in GP clinics, supermarkets and online, as a “wicked proposal”.

“The people pushing the deregulation of all our industries seem to have a hatred of the Australian way of life, which is the ordinary bloke having a go,” he said.

“The free-marketeers have destroyed taxi licence owners, they’ve destroyed owner-operator supermarkets, they’ve destroyed more than 150,000 farmers, they’ve destroyed the livelihoods of trawlermen and fishermen, and now they’re looking for other owner-operator industries that they can do away with.

“I am calling on every pharmacy in Queensland, and around Australia, to ask their local MP ‘are you going to vote for, or against this proposal?’

“And if they are voting for it, the pharmacy should put up a sign saying this man or woman wants to destroy your local pharmacy.

“Take them on. Politicians are cowards.”

Katter added that instead of pushing for pharmacy ownership reform, the AMA should focus on tackling the shortage of doctors in regional parts of the country.

Cairns-based pharmacist, Matthew Callana, said the AMA’s proposals made little sense and suggested the organisation did not “understand the complexity and importance of what we do and how the system works”.

“Pharmacies are open longer hours and are more accessible than a doctor’s surgery, we pack medicine and do home delivery – how’s a vending machine going to do that in a doctor’s surgery?” Callana asked.

“Throughout the pandemic, community pharmacy stayed open the whole time, nonstop, with increased services.

“I don’t think this [AMA] model will improve accessibility.

“It isn’t going to make any significant difference for the better, but I fear it will compromise the existing structure of a pharmacy in particular, the health system overall and outside of that, it will not deliver any benefit to the wider community.”

Pictured, Bob Katter, with pharmacist, Matthew Callana.