KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Joining me live now is Cabinet Minister Sam Rae, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. We're sitting by to go to a couple of things. We've got the Press Club and also that news conference with the Federal Police coming up. A few things to talk about. Clare O'Neil making that case for the Government on the housing policy. Senior people in the Government are saying to me that you've won the debate. There's been very little pushback when it comes to the negative gearing and the housing changes. So why not just bank those and then placate small business and the others, start-ups, biotech companies that are worried about the other elements?
SAM RAE, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIORS: KG, I think we've just got to go back to the first principles here. The reality is we know that it's never been harder for younger people to get into owning a home. It's the key cultural and economic tenet of being an Australian. We believe in home ownership. Now, the tax changes that we've announced are part of getting us there. The extraordinary work that Minister O'Neil has done over the last four years of Government around 5 per cent deposits, around our home equity scheme, building 55,000 new affordable and social homes for Australians. These are all part of a broader package to deal with what is a fundamentally massive public policy challenge.
GILBERT: Can I get you to just hold for one second? I'll come back to you in in a moment, Sam. I just want to go to the Federal Police with these charges announced on an ISIS bride.
[cuts to unrelated press conference]
GILBERT: I've still got the Cabinet Minister Sam Rae with me, Minister for Aged Care. Matt Canavan saying there should be an election, that if you're going to make these changes, take it to the people. Why not?
RAE: Kieran, we had an election 12 months ago, and the Australian people emphatically re-elected the Albanese Labor Government.
GILBERT: But not on these changes.
RAE: They trust their governments, they trust Anthony Albanese as the Prime Minister of Australia to look at the circumstances that our country faces and to make the best decisions in our national interest. We know that housing is one of the biggest public policy challenges that we face. We know that it's never been harder for young people to get into owning a home of their own, and so many of the policy objectives that we're pursuing at the moment are about balancing that better.
GILBERT: But when you've got a broken promise or a litany of broken promises like this budget, Matt Canavan, doesn't he have a point to say take it to the people, have an election? I'm surprised that the Nationals are pushing so hard right now, given where their polling is at – they'd be wiped out. But clearly he believes the message is resonating, that people want to see accountability from their governments, particularly when they backflip.
RAE: KG, there should always be accountability to the Australian people from any government. Let's be clear about that. You and I both know the reason you're surprised is because the Nationals are in dire political straits and they're playing politics. This isn't about getting a better outcome through tax policy or a better outcome for young homebuyers. The Nationals, led by Matt Canavan, are chasing One Nation around by the tail, desperately trying to remain relevant. He's standing out the front of Parliament House, not a Liberal to be seen, a few odd Nationals backbenchers hanging around him, making all sorts of wild claims.
At the same time, the Government, the Labor Government, we're getting on. We're delivering five tax cuts, three different ways, for Australians who work for their income. By 2028, Aussies are going to be, on average, $2800 a year better off. These are the kind of policies and the kind of actions that actually serve our national interest.
GILBERT: One Nation is coming for the Nationals, but One Nation's coming for you as well. The recent MRP that Redbridge had had you losing the seat of Hawke. Is this a real threat to you in northern parts of the Melbourne outskirts up towards Ballarat? Is this a One Nation territory potentially?
RAE: KG, the polls will come and go, and as we know, politicians will latch onto the ones that suit them and ignore the ones that don't. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the polls. I spend a lot of time on the ground in my community.
GILBERT: But do you worry about One Nation?
RAE: No, what I'd worry about is the fact that the people in my community need to be better served by the economy and by our society. I've got one of the youngest electorates on average in the country. People are trying to buy their first homes. We're the fastest growing part of Australia. People want to see a government that is investing in the Australian people, making it easier to buy a home, making it easier to get ahead when you work hard, cutting some income taxes, making it easier to put a few dollars in your pocket and build a life for your family.
GILBERT: So should you listen to some of the concerns among younger people about stocks, about shares? Because there have been complaints from a lot of younger Australians about this change on capital gains tax, that they're trying to get ahead, they're trying to get a deposit, but you're slapping a new tax or greater tax on them when it comes to capital gains.
RAE: The capital gains changes are about making it easier to buy a house. Now, there are a whole bunch of carve-outs for small businesses, and the Treasurer's made clear that we'll have conversations with the start-up sector, for example, which some young people have raised concerns about.
GILBERT: Young punters just trying to make some money on stocks to buy a deposit.
RAE: I think the Prime Minister made pretty clear in a speech on the weekend, Kieran, the majority of Australians aren't setting up these complex trust arrangements to build huge share portfolios. Most young people are working with their parents and their grandparents. They're working hard at their jobs to save up a deposit. They're taking advantage of our policies to get into their first home.
GILBERT: I've got to let you go, but quickly on aged care, huge waiting times, and this was released on Budget day, so it didn't get a lot of coverage, but it should do. Are you making ground on that? Because the elderly waiting a year for an aged care bed or more.
RAE: Well, you're right, Kieran. Demand for aged care services has never been higher. That said, we're now looking after more people through our aged care system than ever before. We've got about 830,000 people through our Commonwealth Home Support Program. By the end of next financial year, there'll be 420,000 people receiving Support at Home services. That will then nearly have tripled since 2020.
GILBERT: Are you reducing the wait time? Is the wait time coming down?
RAE: Well, the wait time, it needs to be assessed in a range of ways because it is a complex system, and there's a complex series of steps that need to be gone through. The report that you're referring to doesn't do a great job of laying that out, frankly. It's a little bit confusing to work through. It was put together as part of an amendment that came through the crossbench in the Senate. But we are driving the most historic changes in the aged care system in a generation, and we're seeing the green shoots of that coming through so that we can get more care to more older people faster.
GILBERT: Minister for Aged Care, Sam Rae, thanks for making the time.
RAE: Thank you, Kieran.