TRANSCRIPT
RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST WITH SALLY SARA
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Topics: Private Health Insurance Rebate Cuts, Aged Care Price Caps, Immigration
E&OE…………………………………
SALLY SARA: You're listening to Breakfast. Staying with Federal Politics. Anne Ruston is the Shadow Minister for Health, Aged Care and also Shadow Minister for Sport and joins me now. Anne Ruston, welcome back to Breakfast.
SENATOR RUSTON: Thanks Sally, good morning.
SALLY SARA: The Health Minister Mark Butler was on Breakfast yesterday and he delayed the implementation of price caps on in-home care services. He said because of a concern that the Middle East war was making prices too volatile to get the price caps right. Do you accept that explanation?
SENATOR RUSTON: Look, I am getting a little bit sick of every time something goes wrong because of a policy failure or a policy implementation failure, this government and this minister always find somebody else to blame. The government has known for a long time the concern around the lack of information that the sector has been saying is causing them problems because of all of the red tape that is being applied onto them. And then to come out yesterday at the last minute giving the sector no certainty at all for the last 12 months. And five minutes to midnight, he actually backflips. So I'm sorry, I don't accept at all that this is the fault of somebody else. This is the fold of poor implementation of a policy by government.
SALLY SARA: Do accept that if they get the price caps wrong they can actually become a default minimum rate rather than a cap?
SENATOR RUSTON: Look, absolutely, and that has been the concern that's been put forward by the sector, is that as soon as you put in a cap that's not properly managed and doesn't have the right settings behind it, everybody will just go straight to the cap and you'll see increases in prices. And absolutely, we've known that for a very long time. So why the government had to wait until yesterday to tell the sector who have been very worried about the this is likely to have on their ability to provide affordable services to the people that they support. It's just ridiculous that he'd be blaming the war in the Middle East.
SALLY SARA: The delay in price caps came after the government dumped a decision that saw at home aged care recipients previously charged for showers and still currently dressing in continence care. The government says it's listening and acting on feedback for aged care. Should it be praised for its responsiveness in your view?
SENATOR RUSTON: I'm not going to give government any credit for something that they knew right from the get-go was going to be a problem. We raised this during hearings. We raised it when the Bill was being brought through the parliament. The sector has been crying out, saying this is so unfair and causing so many problems. And eventually, they come to the table and decide that they're actually going to fix up a problem that they created themselves. No, I'm going to congratulate them, but I am very relieved that they have seen the error in the original implementation and have fixed it.
SALLY SARA: Just lost the line there briefly. Anne Ruston, can you still hear me there?
SENATOR RUSTON: Yes, I can.
SALLY SARA: Oh, we have. We've got you back. Did the government move too slowly on these reforms? And should it consider slowing down its NDIS reforms to avoid a similar outcome?
SENATOR RUSTON: We are very, very concerned about the government's ability to put in place the reforms. I mean, we have seen so many issues come out of the implementation of the Age Care Act that we would hate to see the 760,000 Australians who are on the NDIS go through the same pain and anguish that we've seen all the older Australians go through who've been on home care packages, particularly in relation to the reassessment. I mean, we have seen an algorithm with no human override be used to reassess older Australians when they've moved from home care packages into the Support At Home Programme. If the government's intending to do that for the 760,000 people who are on the NDIS by the 1st of January 2028, I am very sceptical about their ability to do it without causing incredible harm and anxiety to that community.
SALLY SARA: On Radio National Breakfast, I'm speaking with the Shadow Minister for Health and Age Care, Anne Ruston. Yesterday we had your South Australian Senate colleague, Andrew McLachlan, on the programme. He was raising concerns about the Liberal Party and others, the prospect of trying to out one nation, one nation. Let's have a listen.
Andrew McLachlan (pre-recorded): There are many that look to the rhetoric of one nation and seek to replicate it. That is not the Liberal way. We are a party of the centre right, but founded on core foundations of care for the individual and wanting them to meet their aspirations. And that includes compassion and humility.
SALLY SARA: Do you agree with his comment set?
SENATOR RUSTON: I think Australia is a fair nation and I think that one of the things that we built our party on was fairness and making sure that every Australian had the chance to be able to realise the reward for their efforts, to make sure that they took their personal responsibility but they were rewarded for working hard. And I do think that the core values that underpin the Liberal Party and the National Party are values of fairness.
SALLY SARA: Does that fairness apply to permanent residents as well who pay tax and under Liberal proposals would be denied access to some government payments?
SENATOR RUSTON: Look, I want to make sure that I reassure your listeners that anybody who is currently in Australia will not be affected by any of these changes.
SALLY SARA: But others will in the future.
SENATOR RUSTON: But when anybody new applies to come to Australia, they will know the rules under which they come to Australia. So I think that is very, very fair. The people are aware of what they're getting themselves into. If they want to come to Australia they come under the rules that are in place at that time. But I just want to reassure every single person in Australia that the changes do not apply to them.
SALLY SARA: Was Shadow Cabinet consulted on those proposals?
SENATOR RUSTON: Look, obviously, I would never make any public comment about anything that goes to Shadow Cabinet or doesn't go to Shadow Cabinet, and I don't think you would expect me to do so.
SALLY SARA: Were you aware of these proposals prior to Angus Taylor's speech being formulated?
SENATOR RUSTON: I was obviously well aware of everything. I'm in leadership and I'm well aware of many things that occur. And certainly, you know, I support the leaders' budget in a reply speech. I think it was a very good budget in reply speech and it was very pro-aspiration in comparison to what we heard from Jim Chalmers on Tuesday night. But the budget in the reply was delivered in the same way that every budget reply has always been delivered. And I was very, very pleased that... That the leader mentioned a policy that was in my area, the decision by the government to remove the private health insurance rebate for over 65s, because that was tremendously important for the people that I represent, and I think it's a terrible decision. So the budget in reply was done in the same way as budget and reply speeches are always done.
SALLY SARA: Let's just revisit the question just so that I understand clearly what you're saying. Were you aware of this proposal to deny permanent residents in the future some government payments? Were you were aware of that prior to the speech being formulated?
SENATOR RUSTON: Look, as I said, I'm not going to provide you with a commentary about what is discussed in leadership or what's discussed in Shadow Cabinet. All I can tell you, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the way that the policies and the positions that were put forward on Thursday night in the budget in reply speech, they were done in the same way as they have always been done.
SALLY SARA: Anne Ruston, thank you very much for joining me this morning on Radio National Breakfast.
SENATOR RUSTON: My pleasure. Thanks, Sally.
ENDS
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