Labor will unveil a $75m renewable jobs package as it continues to campaign on climate change, while the prime minister, Scott Morrison, will pledge $308m to reduce the safety net for free medicines on Thursday.
The competing funding promises come as both leaders return to Tasmania, where the Labor-held seats of Braddon and Bass are seen as vulnerable.
Under the Coalition’s plan to boost funding for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, concession card holders will meet the safety net for free medicines after 48 scripts, down from 60, while the level for non-concession card holders will be 36, down from 38. This returns the safety net to the level it was at in 2009.
Drugs listed on the PBS cost $6.50 per script for concession card holders or $40.30 per script for general patients.
About 1.4 million people will benefit from the policy change, with individuals saving an average of $80 a year.
Australians suffering from chronic conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, arthritis, asthma, diabetes and cancer are those most likely to benefit given they access multiple medicines.
“Families who require multiple medicines per month and pensioners with multiple chronic conditions will get the most benefit,” Morrison said in a statement.
Since 2013, more than 2,000 new medicines have been listed on the PBS, costing more than $10.6bn.
Campaigning in Tasmania, Shorten will unveil details of a $75m renewables training package, which he says will help create 70,000 new jobs, including support for 10,000 apprentices in clean energy industries.
Under the policy, Labor will direct $45m of its previously announced $330m apprenticeship package for apprenticeships in the renewables industry.
Apprentices working for clean energy business and on renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, battery manufacture and installation, pumped hydro and transmission projects, will be able to access $2,000 towards education costs, while employers will get $8,000 to take on an apprentice.
About $20 million will be spent on Tafe upgrades to make sure the institutes are at the “forefront of renewables innovation and education”, while $10m will be spent on a clean energy training fund.
The party said there would be “thousands of opportunities” for apprentices and Tafe students in the clean energy sector because of Labor’s investment in solar schools, the household battery program, the CEFC and because of its target of 50% renewables by 2030.
“Investment in renewable energy is good for Australian jobs and good for the Australian economy,” Shorten said in a statement. “Only Labor will deliver real action on climate change and lower pollution, lower power prices and build a stronger economy.”
The two parties are also expected to continue to argue climate change costings on Thursday, with the government to release new modelling. However, the modelling is expected to endorse Labor’s plan to use international carbon credits as a way to achieve “least cost abatement”.
