A Petition to the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled in the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia.

This petition of certain residents in the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House the Howard Government's unfair and hurtful changes affecting the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and purchase of pharmaceutical products. These changes include:

increasing the co-payment for PSB Health Card holders from $2.70 to $3.20;

increasing the PBS co-payment for Australian families from $17.40 to $20.00;

the introduction of a new `drugs tax' through the Therapeutic Group Premium plan, which will force up to 2,000,000 Australians to pay more for the latest, safest and most effective medication in key areas—such as treatment for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ulcers and depression;

the removal in recent years of many drugs and medications altogether from the PBS list.

Your petitioners therefore request the House to call on the Howard Government to reverse their changes to pharmaceuticals and the PBS, which will particularly hurt low income, elderly and sick members of our community.