Shadow Minister for Regional Health and Regional Communications - Member for Mallee - Transcript - Interview ABC Radio Eyre Peninsula and West Coast (SA) with Emma Pedlar - 25 May 2026

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TRANSCRIPT

TOPICS: Senate inquiry into Medicare funding, patient subsidies, aged care, home care, rorting

Pedlar

A federal Senate inquiry at the moment is being led by a group called the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee and they're looking at recent federal funding and incentive changes and if they've adequately supported primary health care in rural, regional and remote Australia. Someone who understands the struggles of regional centres is Opposition Spokesperson for Regional Health, National MP for the Mallee, Dr Anne Webster - welcome to Eyre Peninsula Breakfast.

Webster

Thank you so much. Great to be with you.

Pedlar

You're the member for Mallee, which takes in Mildura and surrounds. How important is it that the Senate is taking a closer look at this issue?

Webster

It's incredibly important. I live in Mildura, but Mallee goes all the way down to Halls Gap and the Grampians and across to and South Australian border, obviously all along the New South Wales border and down towards Bendigo. So, it's a third of the state, a little bit like the area that you're in and the 11 councils there. So, the ability for people in rural and regional Australia to access healthcare and any form of equity is a huge problem. It is a fantastic fail and it's not one that any government should be proud of. The patient transport system, which is the key issue I think that needs to be addressed - there are many - but this is one in terms of trying to balance the equity of people who live in the country when they're going for specialist visits so whether they're in Port Lincoln or Ceduna there ought to be an ability for people to travel to Adelaide and access that support. At the moment patients in SA are being paid 33.6 cents a kilometre -  at least they're given a reasonable amount for accommodation! -  in Victoria is 21 cents a kilometre and $49.50 a night. I don't know where you can stay for $49.50 a night.

Pedlar

I don't even think you can get a caravan park booking for that.

Webster

No, and you probably have to bring your own caravan for that one. And you can only access VPTAS, the patient transport. support if you live over 350 kilometres away. So people who live in Mildura, for example, obviously one I'm familiar with, most often fly. There's no train, there's nothing helpful, there is a bus that nobody wants to get on because it'll take you nine hours, and you need to get on at 4am in the morning. It's not great and yet the state governments are just not recognising the disadvantage for people who live in rural and regional Australia. And then of course you've got all the issues around Medicare as this inquiry is looking at and equalisation for - again, GPs and allied health - who choose to work out in the regions and, you know, it's improving, but it's certainly not where it needs to be.

Pedlar

We know the final report from that committee is going to be coming out at the end of July. What do you hope to see included in that?

Webster

Well, I hope a recommendation around regional and rural Medicare fees. We know the bulk billing incentive has been positive. But there needs to be more incentive for doctors and allied health and nurse practitioners to move out to the regions and to feel like they're getting fair and equitable support from the government. And I do hope that the report will come out with some of those recommendations that we see improvements. to Medicare and to transport. I would like to see VPTAS in Victoria, the Patient Transport Support Scheme, is supported more broadly. At the moment, it's managed since the 1980s from the states and territories. You know, I throw it out there, perhaps it should be taken back by the Commonwealth and managed at a Commonwealth level so that it is fair and equitable because I can tell you right now it's not.

Pedlar

We know we've got an ageing population here in Australia as well and many of our community members now, given the aged care review and recommendations, might have been a bit put off from that – one - two, they can't find a bed in a local aged care centre, so they're staying at home for longer. Now we're hearing about these longer wait times as well for people being able to get aged care support at home. What are you hearing from your community?

Webster

Well, I'm hearing a lot from people actually around Australia about aged care, the fact that assessments, the time to actually get an assessment has now blown out once you first apply to 12 months. That's a lot of time when you're elderly and frail and vulnerable. So, 12 months before you can get an assessment and then it can be another couple of months before you may be approved. And then if you can find a provider, particularly in regional Australia, that is a huge win because providers They have closed books, certainly all around Mallee. The books are closed. They can't take on new clients. And it seems to me the Aged Care minister is content for people to have a one out, one in process where somebody has to die or move into residential aged care before they're going to open a package to somebody else. So, there are 235,000 people waiting now for aged care services. It is appalling. It is appalling.

Pedlar

And this is one of the biggest generations, isn't it, that are now entering into that time of life?

Webster

Yes, absolutely. So regional areas, we tend to have a high population of older people over 65 and then those who are in the lower socio-demographic, that puts additional challenges on them. I have people who've got packages - and this raises another issue - where providers are charging significantly more. And I'll give you an example of a physio in town here in Mildura who has charged consistently over a period of time his client, aged care client on a package, $75 for a half hour physio session. The aged care provider has charged for an hour. By my reading of the rules, they're not allowed to do that. And then they've charged them $215 for that one session. So not only is that, in my view, a rort, but what it means is that the client runs out of money in their package.

Pedlar

We hear this similarly in NDIS circles as well.

Webster

Yes, yeah, absolutely. It is across the board. So Sam Rae, hearing that I was doing a documentary on this, he put out a presser a couple of days ago and said that the Support at Home, which opened November 1, 2025, was going to have a cap review, if you like, and caps put on services in July 1, 2026, so in six weeks’ time. Now he has said in his latest MR, oh, we're going to push it out 12 months. So, any kind of rorting, any kind of bleeding out elderly, vulnerable citizens in their packages can, you know, legitimately occur, over the next 12 months and the government is doing nothing about it. That's how I read this.

Pedlar

Opposition spokesperson for Regional Health, Nationals MP for the Mallee, Dr Anne Webster. And she did reference there Sam Rae. For those of you who aren't completely all over who is what, that is the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors and they did announce last week what they were calling the ‘once in a generation reforms’ and ‘record investments’ into the Support at Home program. We do know that there were big changes announced. However, long awaited home care price caps to stop older Australians from being overcharged have now been deferred indefinitely. You are listening to ABC across Eyre Peninsula.

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