Pharmacists kicked out of Question time as politicians clash over 60-day dispensing change

Dozens of pharmacists from the Community and Pharmacy Support group, wearing white pharmacy uniforms, heckled and jeered from the public viewing gallery as the Coalition grilled Labor on the dispensing change, which came into effect on Friday.

The group appeared to be booted from the chamber as Speaker Milton Dick tried to regain order, but recongregated in the public halls of parliament, chanting "who, who, who will pay? who will pay for 60 days?"

"As a result of their behaviour, they have left the chamber. I want to say this going forward, there will be no interjections from the gallery," Mr Dick said. The Canberra Times understands that the group maintains they left in protest.

More than a hundred pharmacists gathered from across the country gathered outside parliament house earlier in the day calling for Health Minister Mark Butler's resignation over the government's new policy.

The change allows patients to purchase two months worth of medication at the same time. The Albanese government has said the change will save six million Australians up to $180 a year, but industry advocacy bodies - including CAPs - argue that the "rushed" change will pass on the cost to pharmacies and risk patient overdose.

Standing against a white-uniformed crowd in the halls of Parliament House, pharmacist Christine Kelly described the measure as "another ill-thought out policy that [the government's] rushed".

"We want the government to actually listen to us, we want them to consult our profession, and we want them to commit to the promise that they made pre-election that no pharmacy or patient would be worse off under this policy.

"As far as I'm concerned this government is a government full of broken promises at the moment," Ms Kelly said, as members of the crowd cheered and yelled "sack Butler".

The Coalition and Labor descending into a war of words over the changes on Monday, after Labor MP Kate Thwaites tried to lob a Dorothy Dixer to Health Minister Mark Butler asking what the government had done to reduce the cost of medicines and support pharmacies.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley tried to challenge the question, arguing "how can this possibly be relevant when the government is ripping out thousands of dollars in community pharmacy and making patients pay?"

Members from both sides stood to battle it out, before the Speaker asked Ms Ley to leave the chamber.

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Mr Butler tried to answer the original question but was interrupted by yelling and jeering from the Coalition and parts of the gallery, prompting crossbencher Zali Stegall ask security to remove the protestors.

"We have to ask the security to take the security to take care of these elements. Because when we have had climate protesters, they have been removed," Ms Stegall said, before calling out the heckling Coalition for encouraging the group's "disorderly conduct".

Pharmacy owner Cobie McQueen, who travelled from the regional city of Horsham in Victoria, told protesters earlier in the day that while she supported cheaper medicines, this couldn't come at the expense of pharmacists being able to support communities already struggling to access healthcare.

"The cost of medicine is irrelevant if those medicines become inaccessible," Ms McQueen said.

"There is no point going to the pharmacy every 60 days if there is no longer a pharmacy to go to."

Nationals leader David Littleproud was one of several Coalition members to front the crowd. He accused the government of turning its back on the "health professionals that got us through one of the biggest challenges this country has ever faced since the Second World War".

"This is about the viability of healthcare for the men and women and children who live in regional, rural or remote Australia," he said.

"Over 400 pharmacies are the last line of primary health care defence for us and this mob wants to rip it away from us," he said.