Jeremy Cordeaux opened this Garage edition of the Court of Public Opinion with a decision he judged both mean and short-sighted. From next April, he explained, some 3.2 million Australians over 65 will lose the private health insurance rebate — the very measure meant to keep older people out of an already overstretched public system.
A Reward For Looking After Yourself
The rebate exists for good reason, Jeremy argued. It rewards older Australians for staying in private cover and taking care of themselves, easing the load on public hospitals that can scarcely cope. Strip it away, and many of those 3.2 million will be forced out of private insurance and back into the public queue.
The saving to the government is about $7.9 billion. But the cost doesn’t vanish, Jeremy warned — it simply shifts onto public hospitals, where he believes it will end up costing taxpayers more, not less.
“No Money Lying Around”
What set him off was the excuse. He watched Health Minister Mark Butler defend the move, insisting straight down the barrel of the camera that the government simply doesn’t have loads of money just lying around. Jeremy pricked up his ears. Yes, Minister, he thought — it seems you do. And he set out to prove it.
The List
What followed was a roll-call of waste offered as helpful suggestions to a minister short of cash. There was $100 million on a failed Bureau of Meteorology website. There was $23.4 billion in electric-car subsidies over ten years — a figure that dwarfs the $7.9 billion the rebate costs. There was $65 million for journalists at billion-dollar media companies, half a billion for a Papua New Guinea rugby league team, and $4.2 million for a South Pacific resort stopover for COP delegates.
Set against those numbers, Jeremy argued, the claim that the rebate is simply unaffordable collapses. The money is there — it is a question of priorities.
Priorities, Minister
That was his refrain: priorities, Mark Butler, priorities. A government that can find $23.4 billion for electric cars but declares it cannot find $7.9 billion to keep 3.2 million pensioners out of the hospital queue has made a choice about who matters.
Jeremy accepted the point with grim humour — yes, Minister, I accept you don’t consider us over-65s a priority — and challenged listeners to find still more waste, money far better spent keeping older Australians healthy and out of the public system.
Listen To The Full Episode
Catch the complete Garage edition of The Court of Public Opinion, recorded live around the dining room table.
Watch The Full Episode
The Court of Public Opinion streams live every Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (ACST), right here at jeremycordeaux.com. Download the podcast anytime on your favourite podcast app, and join the conversation with your calls and comments.
