KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Joining me live in the studio is the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Sam Rae. The new funding model for the aged care system has been in place now for a number of days. Have you ironed out any kinks that are needed? How's it all been bedding down?
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: Thanks for having me, KG. Saturday was a huge day for older people and their families and loved ones across our country. Saturday marked the beginning of the new Aged Care Act, a rights-based framework enshrined in law for older people in terms of the care that they receive, and our new Support at Home program began as well. Older people have been telling us they want to stay in their homes, close to family, close to community for as long as possible, and that's what the Support at Home program has been built around - that very concept. We want every older Australian to access safe, dignified, and high-quality aged care, and that's what this very ambitious reform process has been for.
GILBERT: And the rights-based framework, which has bipartisan support ...
RAE: It does.
GILBERT: it's basically shifting the old way of things where, say, if a facility had a spot, it would be offered to people to put their hand up for it. Now, if an individual needs a spot, they're the focus as opposed to the organisation. Is that the best way to put it?
RAE: Spot on, KG. It's one of the great examples of the change in choice power that has occurred here. So you're right. Previously, historically, a facility or a provider would be allocated the spot, the care spot by the Government, and then they could go and pick and choose who was going to come to their facility. Now, the position is allocated to the human being.
GILBERT: So it's a right. It's a right to that service.
RAE: Absolutely. Absolutely. And then they get to choose what the appropriate place or model of care is for them. And, of course, they retain that right. So once they make that choice, if their circumstances evolve or it doesn't work out the way that they wanted it to, they can always say, well, look, sorry, this isn't right, this isn't what I thought it was going to be, and then they can make a decision to move.
GILBERT: One of the other elements is a contribution from the person themselves. Do we need to go further down that path to make sure this is sustainable? When you're talking about workers being paid more, that's fine - better care, but to do all that, it costs a lot of money.
RAE: It does. We want an aged care system that is both sustainable and equitable in terms of its access. Of course, we've got a rapidly ageing population, and that brings its own set of challenges. And if we want to stick to that principle position that I laid out before, that we want every older person to get safe, dignified, and high-quality aged care, that sustainability piece is very important.
GILBERT: So do we have to contribute more and more?
RAE: Well, under the Support at Home program, the Government continues to pay 100 per cent of all of the clinical costs. But there is a means-tested co-contribution, and that's very important, means-tested co-contribution for people who've come into the system since September 2024. If people have the ability to make a contribution to their care, we're asking them to do so, their non-clinical care. But we've got some very robust guardrails around, including a hardship system, to make sure that if someone isn't able to pay, there's no interruption to the continuity of that care.
GILBERT: Now, on to the politics of the day, you've worked on the other side of the political machine as well in terms of as a strategist and official of your party. You know things turn around quickly. The Coalition is struggling at the moment, but the Government surely has to smooth out some of its own challenges, like on the energy transition and net zero, because if the Coalition does get its act together, it remains a vulnerability, doesn't it?
RAE: As you might imagine, KG, we're paying very little attention other than some mild bemusement to what the Coalition are carrying on with. We've got a job to do. We were elected by the Australian people with our mandate, a very serious mandate, to serve the national interest. And you know that I've got a strong view, and it is the view of our Government, that transitioning to a sustainable energy future is part of that. Renewables are the cheapest form of new power, and we're very upfront about the fact that that needs to be backed in by other forms of energy, such as firm gas.
GILBERT: But you know from your own constituents- you say that, but people's power bills are going up. They’re up 20 per cent since you came to office. So, it's fine to say that, but when do people see that? Because they're not seeing it.
RAE: Again, we are struggling at the moment because we've had, effectively, a decade under the Coalition where they had – what is it - 23 energy policies I think it was in nine years. This has left us in a situation where we have an unsustainable energy grid. The people that own the coal-fired power plants have been closing them down, that is not a decision of Government and most them, the decisions about closing them down, were made under the previous government.
GILBERT: But this is four years now of Labor. This goes to the point I was saying in terms of, you've got to land this because if you don't, it's four years now, people aren't going to buy this thing, the Coalition didn't do something for 10 years. You've been in four years.
RAE: Kieran, this has landed. Australia, like the rest of the world, is moving towards a clean energy future. Those people that are pretending otherwise are really, you know, trying to cling to something that is not real. Australia has to get ahead of this. Every other country, including the United States and China, are moving towards clean energy futures.
GILBERT: Not so much the US. Well, look at Donald Trump.
RAE: You can say what you like about particular leaders at any particular time, but the reality is the United States is absolutely moving en-masse towards a clean energy future and they've got systems in place-
GILBERT: This is in spite of the president.
RAE: I think that we've got to separate out the political rhetoric from some of the sensible policy that might go on across our various partners internationally. But the reality is, Australia has a huge opportunity in a clean energy future. You don't have to be a zealot about these things. Our clean energy future, renewables are the cheapest form of new energy. We're very upfront, they need to be backed by firming power such as gas. So, it's about having a sustainable energy mix that does drive down power prices for households and businesses at the same time as dealing with the challenges that we face around climate change. We've got to be able to walk and chew gum, Kieran, and that's what people expect.
GILBERT: But I guess, you know, as your members, constituents look at this and people that look at the situation on China, for example, 70 per cent of their electricity still comes from coal - dispatched electricity is from coal. And now people talk up the renewables transition they're making, but that's a massive amount of coal-fired power stations being built every year still. So, I mean, it goes to that point - are we having an act of self-harm in a process where there isn't the momentum internationally?
RAE: Very few new coal-fired power stations are being built anywhere in the world. And the reality of this, whether people like it or not-
GILBERT: Except China.
RAE: … is that international capital is not being invested in new coal-powered generation - it's just not. And in fact the assets that do exist, such as in my home state of Victoria, are effectively being left to degrade by the people that own them. The reality is, from an economic perspective our future lies with clean energy being the basis of it. We need to make sure that we seize that opportunity, not stick our heads in the sand and pretend like something else is going to happen here.
GILBERT: And finally, inflation remains sticky. If rates start going up next year, that's not what a lot of Australians would be hoping for.
RAE: Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here in terms of guessing at what the Reserve Bank might do or what the future might hold. The reality is, when we came to office, when the Australian public removed Scott Morrison's Government, inflation was above six per cent. It is now half that. Just this year, we've seen three rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia. So, I think for the first time in a long time we've got the economic settings right, including in the employment space - we have record high employment across our economy. So we need to just take a deep breath, appreciate that the Australian people have worked very, very hard to get this inflation challenge under control. Three rate cuts have been welcome relief by people across all of our communities this year, KG.
GILBERT: You say it's under control, but some economists think the next move is up. That wouldn't go down well with many with many of your constituents.
RAE: Look, it is for the pundits to pundit and to make predictions. There are people who predict one way and people who predict the other way, and time will bear that out. The fundamentals of our economy are very, very strong - we've halved inflation; employment is in the best place that it's been for a very, very long time; we've had three rate cuts. I think while we all would like to see our mortgage costs continue to go down, I think finally we're seeing an Australian economy that is working for the Australian people.
GILBERT: Minister Sam Rae, thanks for your time.
RAE: Thanks KG.