Television interview with Minister Butler, ABC News Breakfast – 3 November 2025

STEPHANIE FERRIER, HOST: And with that Senate hearing and the Nationals' decision to dump net zero, it is a big morning in federal politics. Health Minister Mark Butler joins us now from Canberra. Thanks for coming on News Breakfast, Minister. We will get to the incentives for bulk billing that you've announced that came into effect over the weekend in a little while. But first of all, that decision by the Nationals to dump the net zero target – what do you see are the ramifications for the Coalition and what's your message to the leader, Sussan Ley?
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: The ramifications for the Coalition are pretty extraordinary. We've got Liberal MPs in the paper today describing their Coalition partners as “terrorists” and “parasites,” so that doesn't bode well for a sober discussion about climate change policy and energy policy going forward this week, I wouldn't have thought. But much more importantly for the country, we need investment certainty. The business groups, particularly in sectors like energy, manufacturing and mining, have said for years and years now we need business investment certainty. The Business Council only in recent days again reiterated their strong commitment to a net zero-based policy because they know it needs to guide the investment we need for all of the jobs that those sectors and many others besides depend upon. It’s just more chaos from a Government that led, really, a decade of delay and inaction and has got us into a very difficult investment position right now.
 
FERRIER: You talk about business, but many small businesses, and particularly Australians that are struggling, say that they are really grappling with those high power prices. This is one reason that the Nationals have pointed to as to why they've decided to dump net zero targets. They say that it's gone up, or bills have gone up, by 39 per cent since adopting net zero. Can you understand how everyday Australians are feeling about that? Do they have a point? And are you looking at continuing those rebates to help people who are really struggling with those bills?
 
BUTLER: Jim Chalmers has addressed the question of rebates, but there's nothing more certain to drive up energy prices for years and years than crimping investment certainty. We're in a position now where a generation of coal-fired power stations that were built 40 or 50 years ago are closing down because they're too old to operate properly. We need new energy investment into the system, and the last thing that is going to drive that investment is more uncertainty over policy guidelines like net zero. If the National Party want to really drive up power prices and see a position where we're not building the new energy we need to replace the old coal-fired power stations that are in the process of closing down, they've delivered it over the weekend.
 
FERRIER: Just on another cost-of-living issue, we're looking at the housing crisis this week, and we are obviously not expecting to see the cuts to an interest rate by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday. What do you think the Government needs to do, apart from what you've already said, which is incentives for first-home buyers and increasing that supply issue? Isn't a two-pronged approach with changes and tax reforms needed by the Government?
 
BUTLER: No, we've got our housing policy out there. It's really got a couple of different prongs to it, as you said. A big increase in supply. That's running about 12 months behind where we wanted it to because the Liberal Party and the Greens delayed it in the Senate. But already we are starting to see homes built, including in the affordable and social sector.
 
FERRIER: But Minister, what about tax reform?
 
BUTLER: We don't have a plan to make any changes to tax systems in relation to housing. As I said, we've got very significant supply programs in place. We're also in the process of rolling out that 5 per cent deposit scheme for young Australians, which means that more and more of them are able to get into the housing market more quickly instead of having to wait 10 or 11 years to save a deposit to break into a housing market.
 
FERRIER: Just in terms of the Senate hearing into the Triple Zero outage, should your Communications Minister, Anika Wells, appear before that hearing?
 
BUTLER: House of Representatives ministers are accountable in the House. She's been answering questions in Question Time in the House. That's the proper way this Parliament works. We welcome this inquiry. We think it is another good opportunity for Optus to be held to account. People are angry about what happened with the Triple Zero outage. I know in my community, where we lost a woman who died because of that outage, people want answers. People want Optus to be held to account. We've obviously got our regulator conducting an inquiry, but the Senate inquiry that kicks off today is another important opportunity for Optus to be held to account.
 
FERRIER: Changing eligibility for bulk billing, you say that of almost 7,000 GP practices around the country, you're expecting 2,600 to be able to offer bulk billing, but that's still only about 38 per cent of the GPs around the country. What do you say to Australians who are struggling to pay their medical bills and can't get into one of these fewer than 40 per cent GP practices that do provide that free service?
 
BUTLER: To put that in context, more than 1,000 practices have already said that last week they were charging gap fees and this week they'll be fully bulk billing, and that number is increasing every single day. The investment that rolled out over the course of the weekend means that three quarters of general practices will be better off – the practice will be better off and the doctors will be better off if they take up the investment. But most importantly, patients will be better off. We know that so many Australians have been delaying going to the doctor because of the increase in gap fees that really flowed from a decade of freezing the Medicare rebate that we saw. This record investment will increase the access that people have to see a doctor for free every single day. I know that number will increase.
 
FERRIER: One of your constituents who's in a wheelchair had difficulty actually getting to your offices because it's not wheelchair accessible. Is that not a good look as the Disability and Health Minister?
 
BUTLER: Well, it is accessible through the back, and it's been audited -
 
FERRIER: Should they go through the back door, though?
 
BUTLER: It has been audited as disability compliant. But I've been asking the Department for more than three years to change access arrangements when it became clear 18 months ago that it couldn't be done to a heritage building out the front. I asked to have my office moved, which, again, hasn't happened over 18 months. I'm very frustrated about that. But more importantly, I think it is an issue that needs to be fixed. I'm pushing the Department to find me an office where there can be access both in the front as well as the back if needs be.
 
FERRIER: Okay, thank you very much for your time, Minister.
 
BUTLER: Thank you.