TRANSCRIPT
Interview with Peter Fegan, 4BC Brisbane
28 April 2025
Subjects: Labor’s primary health care crisis, bulk billing rates, GP workforce, rising inflation, ANZAC Day ceremonies
EO&E..................................................................
PETER FEGAN: Joining me on the program now is the Opposition's Spokeswoman for Health, Senator Anne Ruston. Senator, great to have your time this morning.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Thanks for having me.
PETER FEGAN: Welcome to Brisbane. Now you've called Labor's Medicare campaign a scare tactic – What’s the main message that you want voters to hear?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, there's no doubt at the moment that it's never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor and we understand Australians are doing it really tough. In fact, last year 1.5 million Australians actually didn't go and see the doctor because they said they couldn't afford it. Quite clearly something needs to be done to make sure that Australians are getting access to affordable health care. Butthis idea that the Prime Minister's running around telling Australians that they can go to the doctor without having to pay anything – I mean, that's not the reality on the ground. I mean, you ask any of your listeners, they will turn around and say the last time they went to the doctors, they paid a huge amount out of pocket. And so, the Prime Minister is just flat out lying to Australians, trying to con them into something that just simply is not the truth on the ground.
PETER FEGAN: Senator, my question would be to both sides, to both sides of this political debate, on Medicare in particular, would be that if I can afford it, I can afford to go to the doctor, many people listening to me this morning can afford to go to a doctor, so why should we be subsidised? I don't mind paying for the doctor, I would rather me be charged if that means that lower income Australians can afford go to doctor, the people that we're referring to, because not all of us need the kick.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, the reality right now is that we're just seeing an ever-increasing number of people not being able to afford to go to the doctor. And the fact that, as I said, 1.5 million Australians are choosing not to go the doctor last year because they couldn't afford it, these are people that are ending up in our hospitals. And I'm sure there's no difference up here in Queensland, you know, we've got ramping, we've got emergency departments under pressure, we've got a whole primary care system that is in crisis that is then having a knock on effect across the entire health system and Australians are missing out on getting access to healthcare as a result.
PETER FEGAN: On health, just on health, to me and to most Australians it looks like whatever you can do, I can do better. So both sides are pledging billions for Medicare. So what's the difference? What's the difference in your policy to Labor's policy, because they're very, very similar.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, we absolutely support investing in primary care, and an investment in primary care is actually an investment in a healthy Australia. And the reality is right now, people aren't seeing a doctor so they're getting sicker. We need people to be able to get access right up front because we don't want them getting sick or ending up in hospital. But the one thing, the big difference between our position and the Labor Party's position is that we're being honest with Australians. We know it's hard to see a doctor and we know it is expensive to see doctor, and we're not going to be out there telling them that what they're feeling is any different than their actual experience. So the big difference is that we're not going to lie to Australians. The other big difference is we've being very focused on mental health, and as I've been going around the country, parents particularly are saying they're really concerned about their kids' mental health, and so we've made a big investment in mental health and at the last minute, the Labor Party has come in and matched some of our policies.
PETER FEGAN: Did you call them out on that? I had Mark Butler on the programme, and I've got to say I do respect Mark Butler. I think every time that him and I have a conversation he's quite honest and we can have that debate. I mean, there's a lot of other Labor MPs that won't come on this programme, they don't want to debate with me, but Mark Butler always does. But did you call him out? Because when he appeared on this programme last, we were talking about these mental health facilities and he was talking about new mental health facilities. They're not new, they're getting a facelift with a different name. They’re pinching the name you've given them and changing them, there's nothing new.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: No, there's not, and once again on the weekend we saw the same thing happen in relation to the telehealth services. Health Direct has been the telephone line that Australians have been able to use to ring -It’s sort of the not triple zero emergency number where you can ring up and get some advice around primary care. So,they've rebranded that on the weekend. I mean, the reality is we don't want to stand in the way of Australians being able to get access to additional care, which is the case here, but rebranding something and spending millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, when actually those millions of dollar could have been into additional services, additional frontline services helping Australians - These guys are great on the headline, have no regard for the delivery.
PETER FEGAN: What is the Coalition doing about a shortage of nurses and doctors, and in particular GPs in country towns? We talk about mental health services, it's fantastic, it is all great on the surface to say look we are going to help you out, but how are you going to do it? Because there is a - Senator, there is big shortage of frontline health workers.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Absolutely, and the entire time that I've been in the position of the Shadow Health Minister, I have been going on and on about the fire that's closest to our feet is workforce. We were the first ones out of the box over a year and a half ago saying that we wanted to invest more in the pipeline of doctors to make sure our young doctors who are going through medical school choose to be GPs, because it's GPs where the real crisis is. And so, we were very pleased to be able to make an over $600 million investment in workforce. But the thing that I was really pleased about, and you mentioned regional and remote Australia, is part of the Regional Australia Future Fund, we've got a dedicated health stream and we've announced a hundred million dollars specifically to go to rural doctors and the training of rural doctors. They have to be, because we know if you train in the country, you're likely to stay in the county. So,we've got a dedicated stream that is just focused on rural health challenges.
PETER FEGAN: Senator, I'll ask you this, and I think most of Australia will share the same sentiment. We want change in 30 days. We don't want change in 30 years. We want things to change immediately. Does the Coalition think it's done enough and do you deserve to be in government?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: I think we've got a really strong plan and we've recognised that the issue here is always focusing on Australians and delivering what Australians are… (interrupted).
PETER FEGAN: How long will it take you to deliver? We want change now - do you think the Coalition has done enough? We know we talk about nuclear, that's going to take 30 years, we're talking about energy policy, we're talking about gas - I don't even know if you've consulted with Santos to let them know that they can't send the amount of gas overseas that they would like - I don't know how you can even do that to them, but what have you done in the immediate future to make living in Australia easier for Australians?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, the first thing we've got to do is we've got to get inflation down. And we've heard in the last couple of days that the IMF have said that they believe that Australia's inflation is going to go up again, 3.5% next year, 6% over the next two years. We have got to something about that because the reality is how much money you've got in your pocket and the real amount of money in your pocket is depicted by how your economy is working. So the first thing, the absolute number one thing on the agenda has got to be to get our economy back being strong again. But there are lots of different policies. As you say, nuclear is into the distance, but the gas reservation policy is something that can be put in place in the shorter term. But the real key to this, as I said, is actually getting the cost of living down so people can afford -(Interrupted).
PETER FEGAN: And fuel.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Fuel is a fantastic example. I come from the country. I've got to tell you, 25 cents a litre on your fuel when you come from the country - (Interrupted)
PETER FEGAN: It will mean a lot.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, you don't have public transport. This is a massive, massive thing for rural and regional Australia. But equally, everybody in the city drives their car too.
PETER FEGAN: Senator, I showed you a picture earlier and it's something we've been discussing this morning. It depicts Max Chandler-Mather, who is the member for Griffith in the area we're in right now, and it depicts him on a mobile phone during an ANZAC Day Ceremony. Now, he says that he was looking at some talking points. I mean, you can be forgiven for wanting to look at talking points before you go and talk, I guess, I get that. But there's a time and a place to be using your mobile phone. Do you think it's acceptable?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: No, I don't think it's acceptable at all. I mean, we are there commemorating people who gave their life for the freedom of this country, and this guy couldn't even wait until after the service was over to check his talking points. I mean, I think it shows an incredible amount of disrespect for those people that have served and those people that are currently serving. We've got Australians in places of conflict right now, and he couldn't even keep his phone in his pocket for half an hour. I just think it just shows incredible disrespect.
PETER FEGAN: Can the Coalition win?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Absolutely.
PETER FEGAN: Are you confident?
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Well, obviously we've got a strong plan. We've put it to the Australian people. They've got a choice between a guy who is a pathological liar in the Prime Minister. I mean, this guy lies about everything. He's lied about national security, he's lied about energy, lied about health. And somebody who I think is a very strong leader who has got a strong plan, very compassionate, very focused on what Australians are talking about right now. And so I think the choice is very clear and I'm hopeful the Australian public will see that too.
PETER FEGAN: Senator, great to have you in Brisbane. Enjoy your time here. It's great to have you in the studio. Good luck on the weekend. I'm sure we'll chat very soon.
SENATOR ANNE RUSTON: Thanks.
ENDS
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