I think, as many have discussed here, there has been a lot of focus on the 'importing of generics' as an option in the media this past 6 m+. This has made the Big Pharma very agitated, so now the Poli's and Pharma's get together and make a deal with a whole lot of media attention, back-slapping and drawing the attention back to them - The HepC Heroes who will save the day!! Giving the general population of HepC sufferers hope and faith that the Gov will pay for their care with no more 'waiting' and not to go spending money elsewhere to import generics on their own. They have fiddled with the figures and boosted their budget a bit to sound impressive but, as mentioned, this is money they've been spending on the interferon and public clinic tx. With GP's being able to write the scripts that means less of a burden on the public hospital clinics and hopefully a shorter waitlist.
For now they've created a diversion and are keeping all eyes on them and their solution and distracting everyone from alternatives. They will use the next few months until March to make the most of it.
I don't trust them, it's typical of the lead up to election time, 2016.