The Greens & Coalition team up again + Would you have a baby for Australia?

Chris Spyrou (0:02)

A Listener Production Hey, Chris Spyrou with you. Welcome to The Briefing. Australia's fertility rate is expected to crash over the next 40 years to a historic low of 1.34 births per woman. So what's being done about it?

Petra Wale (0:20)

We're very clear about the fact that this is not a one-dimensional problem, that there is absolutely the need for intervention on many fronts.

Chris Spyrou (0:27)

That deep dive is coming up in the second half of this episode first though. Let's get into the headlines with Sacha Barbour Gatt on Thursday, the 15th of October.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (0:37)

Thanks, Chris. Starting in Canberra today, where the Greens and the Coalition have teamed up to block a labor bill that would make private health insurance more expensive for older Australians. Right now, if you're 65 or over, the government covers a bigger chunk of your premium than it does for younger people through a rebate. And that grows again once you turn 70

Labor's plan, first flagged in the May budget, would scrap that extra help from April next year, saving the government an estimated $3 billion over four years that it says it would redirect into aged care.

Chris Spyrou (1:09)

Now, the government says around three million older Australians would pay about $250 more a year on average as a result of the changes. But it is a lot more for those on top tier cover. The health insurance industry warns a couple over 70 on that level of cover could be up to $1,600 a year worse off. And it's not just about higher bills. The health department's own modelling suggests almost 80,000 older Australians would drop their cover altogether as a result.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (1:37)

Now, the Greens, Coalition and the rest of the crossbench yesterday voted to throw the bill out of the Senate. Interestingly, Health Minister Mark Butler then vowed to push ahead, promising to reintroduce the legislation today, but didn't specify if any changes would be made to the legislation in order to get it passed, so not quite sure what his goal is there.

But we did hear from Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston yesterday. She said it's time to take the hint and to drop the war on older Australians.

SPEAKER_4 (2:04)

We have been able to relegate to the dustbin by removing this terrible bill.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (2:09)

Yeah, so she went on to say that essentially older Australians have paid their private health insurance all their lives, and right now they're most likely to need it, you know, that extra cash support and it's being ripped away from them under this legislation. Now, the bill could still get over the line with support from the Greens. New leader David Choubridge has flagged that he's open to it, but only if pensioners are carved out of it.

SPEAKER_4 (2:32)

We weren't going to pass laws that punch down on pensioners.

Chris Spyrou (2:35)

Yeah, he went on to describe the bill as a revenue measure and one that comes at the expense of picking the pockets of pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis. This proposal isn't one that's just being slammed by the Greens, the coalition and those on the crossbench. It's also being criticised by the states and territories which have warned that their health services will come under increasing pressure as a result of this. So a bunch of state health ministers have also attacked this bill in different ways. This is the second health cost saving measure that labourers try to get over the line in recent weeks. The most recent one was the cap on allied health payments for veterans. Famously, Jackie Lambie stood up in the Senate and spoke about his own experiences there and labour did park those reforms.

Mark Butler will linger on him for a second longer. He actually blamed the new leader of the Greens, David Shoebridge, for this not passing the Senate.

He says he was surprised that the Senate rejected the bill. And there's a quote here that I've got from him. He said, if this is a change of approach under the new leadership of the Greens party, then I think that is not going to be in the national interest. So, he's really taking aim at Shoebridge, but Shoebridge said from the moment that he was elected that he's going to be taking the fight up to Labor. So, it's going to be interesting to see if they do strike a deal. The Greens are willing to negotiate here, but will Mark Butler, will Labor compromise? Time will tell.

Sacha Barbour Gatt (4:03)

Overseas, Russell Brand has been labelled a ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator in court as his trial for sexual assault and rape begins in the UK. The 51-year-old comedian is facing seven charges relating to alleged incidents with six different women spanning ten years beginning in 1999