Health Minister Mark Butler has lashed the Senate for a “political stunt” after his bill to strip the private health insurance rebate from Australians aged 65 and over was discharged, but critics will note he has offered no sign the Government is willing to change a policy that senators across the chamber have now declined to even debate.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Mr Butler called the move “an absolute travesty” and accused the Coalition of ignoring its own “professed commitment to sound budget management.” The Government says the measure would raise about $3 billion over four years for aged care.
Anger aimed at the Greens
Mr Butler reserved his sharpest words for the Greens and their new leader, Senator David Shoebridge, whose party joined the Coalition to discharge the bill.. He described it as the “resurrection of the ‘Noalition’” and said the party was abandoning its long-held support for redirecting private health rebate funds into public services.
“If this is the standard operating procedure for the new Greens leadership, then I think that party has made a profound mistake,” he said.
Yet the Greens have been clear about their objection. Their spokesperson for older people, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said last week: “Labor is choosing to take money from pensioners to help pay for running repairs to its catastrophic aged care reforms.” Health spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said: “People are doing it tough right now, and too many people are already putting off seeing a doctor because they just can’t afford it.”
Talks with the Greens leader never happened
Mr Butler insisted the Government had been negotiating in good faith. But when asked whether Mr Shoebridge had been part of those discussions, his answer was a single word: “No.” Pressed on when Mr Shoebridge became leader, Mr Butler said: “I can’t remember.” A reporter told him it was two weeks ago.
The minister said talks had been held with Senator Steele-John, but when asked whether a deal was close, he was equally direct. “No,” he said. “We’ve not reached a deal.”
Fewer answers than questions
Reporters repeatedly asked Mr Butler whether the Government would soften the policy, including with carve-outs for pensioners. He declined each time. “I’m not going to debate these issues in a press conference,” he said. Mr Butler himself put the number of pensioners affected at about 1.2 million of the roughly three million people hit by the change.
Asked whether the $3 billion would still flow to aged care if the bill failed, he did not say. “We’re determined to press ahead with this bill,” he said. Asked what he would do if the bill could not pass this year, he called it “a hypothetical.”
He was also unwilling to say whether the budget was now exposed. Asked if the failure would have to be accounted for in the mid-year budget update, he answered: “We’re not at that point yet.”
When a journalist put it to him that independents Jacqui Lambie and Monique Ryan had also been critical, and that “the only people that are actually backing this are from the Government,” Mr Butler offered no direct response. “The best way to come to a considered conclusion about that,” he said, “is to have a debate at the end of the day.”
“Not even a rejection”
Mr Butler took pains to stress the bill had not been voted down. “It’s not even a rejection. It’s the discharge of the bill,” he said. It is a technical distinction, and one that does little to change the practical outcome: the legislation cannot proceed in its current form.
He also argued the change would restore fairness. “Two households next door to each other on exactly the same household income would receive the same subsidy from government for their private health insurance membership, instead of there being a discrimination on the basis of age,” he said. He described the impact as “60 to 70 cents a day” for the average premium holder.
Under the current system, the rebate is around 24 per cent for people under 65, 28 per cent for those aged 65 to 69 and 32 per cent for those aged 70 and over.
The Government has leaned on its own modelling, which estimates about 44,000 people aged 65 and over could leave private cover. Mr Butler said he was “very confident” the change would not have “a material impact on hospitals.” Opposition health spokesperson Senator Anne Ruston has a different view: “Older Australians who drop their cover will not stop needing scans, chemotherapy or surgery. They will simply join the back of the public hospital queue.”
The same bill, again
Asked whether the reintroduced bill would be identical, Mr Butler answered “Yes.” Asked why the Government would bring back the same legislation, he blamed the Greens again. He has also not yet spoken to the Leader of the House about timing, and acknowledged “there isn’t that much time left of sitting in the rest of the calendar 2026.”
For older Australians weighing up their cover, nothing changes for now. But with Mr Butler refusing to budge and the Senate refusing to listen, the minister’s insistence that it is everyone else who is at fault looks increasingly hard to sell.
They are desperate for money.
They also say that the money raised from this rebate cut will be spent on aged care.
What about the extra pressure that an extra 44,000 (most likely more) will put on public health when they give up their private health?
A lot of the impacted people have had private health for many years saving Governments billions of dollars.