SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE

SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS KENNY, KENNY REPORT NEWS24

Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Topics: Persistent inflation, the risk of another interest rate rise and Labor’s cuts to private health insurance rebates for older Australians

E&OE……………………………………

Chris Kenny: Let’s get on to the federal political debate and cross to Adelaide to catch up with Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston. Thanks for joining us, Anne. Underlying inflation hasn’t shifted. It’s steady, says the Treasurer—but it is steady at a higher rate than the Reserve Bank wants. Does this mean we’re going to see another rate rise before the end of the year?

Senator Ruston: Well the concern is that commentators are suggesting today’s figures are likely to mean there will be another rate rise. Obviously, we have to wait and see whether that actually eventuates. But it’s pretty sad news for Australians who are already struggling under cost-of-living pressures to think that they’ve got this hanging over their heads until the next time the Reserve Bank makes a decision.

For Jim Chalmers to be out there crowing that this is somehow good news for Australians is extraordinary. If you trim the inflation rate and take out the July figures from 2025, it’s a pretty sad state of affairs. They need to take some responsibility for their part in this higher-than-anybody-expected inflation, which remains sticky and is causing such grief for Australian households and businesses.

Chris Kenny: Jim Chalmers seems to be incredibly smug. I can remember when they used to say that Treasurer Peter Costello was smug. Well, Costello had much to be smug about because he got the country into a fantastic position, where living standards kept rising and we got rid of our debt. But Jim Chalmers is smug about nothing. Here he is today.

Jim Chalmers: Inflation will bounce around a bit as it gets further down towards the Reserve Bank’s target range, but we’ve seen it come down again for the fourth consecutive month, and underlying inflation was steady as well.

Chris Kenny: See, this is the point: underlying inflation is what matters, and it hasn’t shifted.

Senator Ruston: Look, this idea that it’s “bouncing around” is cold comfort to Australian families who are paying tens of thousands of dollars more on their mortgages. I just cannot believe the disconnect between the Treasurer and the reality facing Australian families who are struggling to pay their mortgages, and Australian businesses that are struggling to repay their loans. It just beggars belief that anybody could be so completely and utterly ignorant of what’s going on in the electorate.

Chris Kenny: I want to get back to your portfolio and the budget changes to private health insurance rebates for people aged over 65. This is a big issue for anyone over 65, and reports today suggest that more than a million people could be affected. Does that surprise you?

Senator Ruston: Well, the really concerning news is that the Government’s own submission to the inquiry actually suggested that it’s not just one million people—it’s actually 3.2 million people who will be affected but more than one million of them are full-age pensioners.

These people have got no capacity they’re on fixed incomes, they can’t change anything, and they’re already living on incredibly tight budgets. This Government didn’t even bother to measure how many of those people would be affected. We only found out because the department accidentally included the figures in a submission.

The Government has a lot to answer for. It is attacking older Australians who live on the pension and have paid for private health insurance all their lives. Just when they are likely to need it most, the Government is ripping the rug out from underneath them and potentially forcing them into the public system. There, they will add pressure to our already overburdened public health system and join the end of incredibly long waiting lists.

But this also affects younger Australians. The idea that this is some form of intergenerational equity flattening is ridiculous. Younger Australians will ultimately pay more for their private health insurance or join longer queues in the public system. It’s just a nonsense policy.

Chris Kenny: Yes, 1.2 million pensioners—people on fixed incomes—are going to have to somehow absorb this extra private health insurance cost or drop out. Here’s what the Health Minister, Mark Butler, had to say today.

Mark Butler: Our independent modelling, done by our officials, suggests that maybe, at most, 44,000 people out of several million would drop private health insurance because of this measure. That’s a very small percentage—not even 1 per cent, not even half a percentage point.

Chris Kenny: A small percentage, he says—and no doubt that will be an underestimate. But even on their numbers, that’s 44,000 people who want private health insurance. Let’s be clear about that: they would prefer to have private health insurance, but they’re going to be forced to give it up. That’s at least 44,000 extra patients entering the public system and, as you say, another 1.16 million people struggling to find the money for those extra payments.

Senator Ruston: Well, the stupidity of what the Minister just said is, first of all, the claim that it will be only 44,000 people. I’ll believe that when I see it. The modelling we’ve seen from the sector suggests it will be more than 60,000, the Private infinity report provided to the Government says 91,000 people.

They haven’t even bothered to model the number of people who might downgrade their level of cover—maybe from gold to silver—and obviously that will have a consequential impact as well.

The thing the Minister fails to tell Australians is that, while this might improve his Government’s budget bottom line, the cost will be transferred to the budgets of the states and territories. In the end, taxpayers will pay more for this than they currently do.

Jim Chalmers’ budget bottom line might get a bit of a sweetener, but state and territory governments—and their public hospitals, which are already under incredible pressure—will be hit with even more pressure. The Minister needs to come clean and be honest with Australians: this policy will cost Australian taxpayers more than it currently costs them.

Chris Kenny: Yes, shocking stuff. Thanks for your time. Senator Anne Ruston.

ENDS