SALLY SARA:
Did you hear about the big changes to aged care funding yesterday? If you or an elderly relative are thinking about residential aged care you will want to hear about it. They are calling it a once in a generation reform. Under a deal struck between the government and the Coalition yesterday there is to be a user‑pays overhaul of the aged care funding system which will require new aged care entrants to make larger means tested contributions. Now, the government is also introducing anti‑scam laws. Banks, telcos, social media platforms are going to face fines of $50 million if they fail to prevent their customers from getting ripped off if these laws go through. Stephen Jones is the Assistant Treasurer. Good morning. Tell me about these anti‑scam laws.
STEPHEN JONES:
Well, when we came into government, we promised a significant uplift in protections and that’s what we are delivering because Australians are losing too much to scams. Under these new laws there will be strong obligations on banks, on telecommunications companies, on social media platforms to prevent, to protect, to disrupt scams, to respond to threats in their systems, and to be a part of a national reporting system so we can share intelligence on what’s happening in the economy. If they don’t meet these obligations fines and compensation to victims will flow.
SARA:
Okay. So you are not targeting the scammers themselves, but the scammers get to you through your telecommunications company, through your mobile phone, through your bank, through your social media platform so that you are putting pressure on those organisations – those legitimate organisations – to say if you don’t do more, do your absolute best to detect and block scams the ACCC will be able to ping you with a $50 million fine.
JONES:
That’s absolutely right. This is a system‑wide approach which understands how the scams are getting to us, how do we prevent them in the first place, how we keep Australians safe. And, you know, there is already criminal laws available which pose sanctions on the individuals, but unfortunately now the majority of the stuff is coming to us from overseas, from industrialised criminal outfits running, you know, scam operations in places where law and traditional law enforcement can’t reach. So, we are taking our – how do we keep our systems safe, how do we keep Australians safe, and that requires us dealing with the key pillars in the economy through which these scams are reaching Australians. Social media platforms, telecommunications companies, and banks.
SARA:
Stephen Jones is the Assistant Treasurer on the line this morning. Let’s move to the overhaul of the aged care funding system. The wealthiest retirees, self‑funded retirees will pay up to $9,100 a year extra for residential aged care. That’s about $25 a day. That’s a pretty modest reform, isn’t it, for the wealthiest self‑funded retirees?
JONES:
Well, the whole objective of this is to ensure that we have a sustainable system with quality care and that Australians who need to go a residential setting are able to do that because there are beds available. There is a severe shortage of beds at the moment because of the unsustainability in the system, so this will lead to more money available for investment in the aged care residential system, but importantly, more support and rights available to people who want to stay at home. And ensuring that we have – whether you are at home and ageing at home or whether you’re in a residential aged care facility, you have quality care, quality food, good accommodation, and it is all funded sustainably.
SARA:
As Assistant Treasurer though, do you scratch your head? Aged care last year cost $36 billion. Now, this only modestly brings down the cost. Aged care spending will still continue to grow by more than 5 per cent a year – 5 per cent.
JONES:
That’s right. So, we don’t begrudge one single dollar of the money that we are spending, but we do have to have an eye on how we have a system that is sustainable over the next few generations. An ageing population, more people moving into retirement and then ultimately into aged care settings as they approach the end of their life. We want to ensure that that system is quality, that has care in it, that is sustainable, and these measures will do that. Yes, it will grow, we want it – we expect that the funding – the Commonwealth government contribution will grow. We will still be the biggest funders in the system, and we will fund all of the clinical care, but, you know, if there are Australians who can afford to pay a little bit then I think that’s fair. The government thinks that’s fair to make the system sustainable all over.
SARA:
Yes. It is just a little bit, though. At what point do you sort of say well, we need to look at the means test, we need to look at the treatment of the family home given the ageing population. Don’t we need to have a conversation about that? I mean, why should a 25‑year‑old who can’t afford to buy their own home have to pay for home or residential care costs for someone living in a 2, 3, 4 million dollar home?
JONES:
These are the questions which have led us to put in place what we think is a balanced package that gets the balance right between the rights of older Australians and the need for us to have a sustainable system over the long haul. We want to ensure that we can do that. And the package that Anika Wells introduced into Parliament I think gets the balance right. We want to ensure the system is sustainable, we think we have got a sustainable basis when we implement these reforms, and it is about quality care –
SARA:
Okay.
JONES:
– and it’s about ensuring that, you know, we have the aged care system that we want for our loved ones.
SARA:
Okay, you have got about 30 seconds, which probably suits you down to the ground, on interest rates. The RBA hasn’t ruled out another interest rate increase before Christmas. In your view would that tip the economy into recession?
JONES:
I won’t comment on the RBA decision‑making, but what I can say is Australians are doing it tough, and those who have got a mortgage are doing it even tougher than anyone else, and renters who are having those costs passed on to them. So, there is no doubt that the Reserve Bank’s fiscal – monetary policy, which is, you know, making – putting a lot of pressure on households and businesses is slowing the economy down. There is no doubt about that. That’s exactly what it’s designed to do. We want to ensure that we have a soft landing, that we can get the economy turned around and get the relief for households. On our part of the equation, we’ll be providing cost‑of‑living relief and continue to do that.
SARA:
Stephen, thank you so much for your time. That’s the Assistant Treasurer on the line there.