SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE

SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 16 September 2026

LABOR’S LAST CHANCE: FRIENDLESS AND OUT OF EXCUSES ON ITS PENSIONER TAX

Today Labor has the chance to abandon their $3 billion cut to the private health insurance rebate, but the Government is set to force the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the PHI Rebate) Bill 2026 to a vote in the House of Representatives. Earlier this week Labor gagged its MPs from speaking on the Bill, clearly concerned their Party is acting against their communities.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston said the vote was Labor’s last opportunity to listen to pensioners, the states and its own backbench before locking in a policy almost nobody outside the Prime Minister’s office still supports.

“This is Labor’s last chance. Only the most arrogant and heartless government would proceed with this legislation after learning – thanks to the Senate and the Crossbench – how many pensioners it will devastate,” Senator Ruston said.

“Labor is completely friendless on this. States are against it, the sector is against it, pensioners are against it, and now even the Greens, whose votes Labor needs to get this through the Senate, are turning on it too.”

The Greens' health spokesperson, Senator Jordon Steele-John, yesterday accused the Government of “betraying pensioners” over the cuts (ABC News, 15 September 2026), leaving Labor without a clear path through the Senate even if it succeeds in forcing the Bill through the House today.

“Labor can no longer pretend this is just the Coalition and the states raising the alarm. When the Greens are accusing you of betraying pensioners, you know you’ve lost the room,” Senator Ruston said.

The push to force the vote comes just days after Parliamentary Budget Office modelling, obtained by the ABC, confirmed almost half of the $3 billion in savings from the cuts, close to $1.6 billion, will be taken directly from age pensioners (ABC News, ‘Pensioners to shoulder $1.6b of private health insurance ‘cash grab’, analysis reveals’).

More than 160 of the 171 submissions to the Senate inquiry into the Bill opposed it in its current form, a 94 per cent opposition rate.

“This is lazy legislation, backed by lazy assumptions, from a lazy minister, and today Labor has one last chance to prove it isn’t also reckless legislation, rammed through against the wishes of pensioners, the states, the sector and its own MPs,” Senator Ruston said.

“If Labor pushes this through the House today, every single Government member who votes for it owns what comes next for the pensioners in their electorate. There is still time to do the right thing,” Senator Ruston said.

ENDS

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