Transcript: Interview with Nikolai Beilharz, ABC Adelaide Drive - 18 February 2026

TRANSCRIPT

INTERVIEW WITH NIKOLAI BEILHARZ, ABC ADELAIDE DRIVE

18 February 2026

Topics: Labor’s private health premium rise, Liberal leadership, shadow ministry    

E&OE…………………………………

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: Senator Anne Ruston is the Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care and with us this afternoon. Senator, good afternoon to you.

ANNE RUSTON: Good afternoon.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: So, we heard from Mark Butler. He's made comments saying, look, he ordered insurers to go back a number of times, didn't accept initial offers. Is the reality that this is the best balancing act between trying to keep prices as low as they can, while not putting private health care companies in their own challenging financial situation?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, I think we need to first of all look at why we are where we are, and it's basically a result of the high inflation that we've seen over recent years. And the health sector is not immune from inflationary pressures on things like insurance and energy costs and the like, and at the moment we have some real challenges in terms of workforce and being able to get access to that and medicine shortages - there's a whole heap of things that are putting pressure on the sector which is making the sector having to put up its prices. But underlying all of this is the fact that we have a government who has allowed inflation to get out of control and the health care sector is not immune from those inflationary impacts, which we're seeing with an at least 4.41% increase in private health premiums.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: And if that is the case, people might not like it, but you're just going to have to accept that the prices are going to go up?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, of course the sector needs to be viable and will need an increase and we know that health inflation at the moment is in excess of 5%, so 4.41% doesn't even reach what the increasing costs for the sector, for our private hospitals over the last 12 months. But I think the most important thing to consider is the knock-on impact if, as your people that you were speaking to today mentioned, all apart from one of them said that they would reconsider whether they had private health. That means these people who currently rely on private health insurance are now considering moving off it, which means they'll go into the public system. And we know here in South Australia, we've got the worst ramping we've ever seen. We've got these incredibly long waitlists for non-urgent surgeries. You know, you've got older Australians who are bed-blocked in hospitals. So, what does this actually - what's the knock-on effect of this to our public health system, which is already under incredible strain? That's the real concern.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: If you were in power, what would you do differently?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, first and foremost, a strong economy where inflation is within the band and not high and rising, where you've got productivity built into what you're doing - it's about maintaining a strong economy because a strong economy allows you to be able to provide these essential services, and health is absolutely an essential service that Australians rely on. So, I think just talking about health fails to recognise the fact that this actually has been caused by the underlying runaway inflation that we're seeing in our economy, which is impacting our health system just like every other business sector.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: Senator, while we have you, we saw last night the new Federal Liberal Leader, Angus Taylor, announcing his new shadow ministry. Clearly, as we've mentioned, you have retained the Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care portfolios. Were you half expecting to lose them, given your support for Sussan Ley?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, we've had a ballot in our party room and we've got a new leadership team of Angus and Jane and I think they've hit the ground running. I'm delighted that the new leader has seen to put me back into Shadow Cabinet, holding the two portfolios that I've had for the last nearly four years. And I'm just so looking forward to getting on with the job because, quite frankly, we have got some enormous challenges in health and aged care - Australians struggling to get access to see a GP or get into a hospital, Australians struggling to get access to aged care. So, I'm just really focused on getting on with the job that I've been doing for the last three and a half years in opposition and I'm delighted that I'll be doing for the next two and a half years.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: What kind of a leader is Angus Taylor proving to be so far?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, Angus was only elected by the party room on Friday, but I think you'd have to say he's hit the ground running. You know, he's very focused on making sure that the really core things that I think an opposition should do - making sure we hold the Government to account and making sure that we are building a policy platform to take to the next election so Australians have got an alternative to vote for. But I think you'd have to say he is very focused on making sure that we protect Australia's way of life and restore our standard of living, because over the last few years, Australia's standard of living has fallen by a greater amount than any other comparable economy around the world. That is really serious, and Australians are feeling it in their hip-pocket.

NIKOLAI BEILHARZ: Senator, thank you.

ANNE RUSTON: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

ENDS