E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
TV INTERVIEW  
CHANNEL SEVEN 
MONDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2026 

TOPICS: POLLING; COST OF LIVING; EU FREE TRADE AGREEMENT.

NATALIE BARR: Let's bring in Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson. Morning to both of you, Tanya. We know not everyone will like who the Prime Minister is. We've seen that through history. But shouldn't they be at least trusted?

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: I think Australians have always been a bit sceptical of politics and that's a healthy thing in a democracy. What we see is a Prime Minister that is absolutely, firmly focused on what matters to Australians and that's cost of living support. That's why we're doing the things that we're doing. Making it possible to see a bulk billed GP that's, you know, bulk billing rates have gone through the roof. It's much easier to see a doctor for free than when we came back to government. That sort of stuff's opposed by Tim. We've made medicines cheaper, we've made sure that wages can go up. Again opposed by the Liberals. We've brought taxes down. There'll be another tax cut this year, another tax cut next year. Again, the Liberals went to the last election with a plan for higher taxes on working Australians. So, our focus is absolutely 100 per cent [indistinct].

BARR: I think we've got a bit of a problem there with the sound. We might go to Tim. Look, these, these- this poll this morning is actually good for, for Angus Taylor. Does this stave off any leadership challenge to him over Christmas, which has been rumoured in some circles?

TIM WILSON: That's not even a conversation anyone in the Coalition's having. But I want to stress actually how disappointing it is that we do have a Prime Minister where only 1 in 5 Australians trust the Prime Minister. We should actually want a nation where people trust their leaders and particularly where people have a sense of confidence because the global environment is challenging. We need a government that Australians trust. But one of the problems is the Prime Minister keeps stoking inflation and making Australians poorer. Because this government's economic model is an active inflation agenda, which is to stoke inflation, tax inflation, spend inflation, in a vicious cycle that sadly is sending households backwards. That's why people are so upset, because they're having to make choices between whether they can afford to keep their house or send their kid on a school excursion. And I would have thought that we want to be a nation where we're able to do both those things.

BARR: Tanya, we've got a problem, haven't we? When we've got the RBA saying productivity is dead in this country, we have businesses screaming out saying we need help from the red tape, from everything that is being put up against us and then we've got the Treasurer of this country, a year after a roundtable, a productivity roundtable, going to Treasury, apparently, last week saying now we need something to help productivity. Do you really think your government is on top of this?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: 100 per cent. And I'll just give you a few examples. Our free TAFE program is about making sure that Australians have the skills they need to earn more to get great jobs. And it's about making sure that our country is more productive by investing in skills. I'll give you another example. We've got a European Free Trade Agreement on the table right now. It's about to go to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. Business groups universally saying that this is a really important thing for Australia's prosperity. Why wouldn't the Liberals back the Australia Europe Free Trade Agreement that'll add billions of dollars to our economy. I mean, Tim's party are actually talking about cutting support for critical minerals. We know that critical minerals, Australia could be a globally important source of critical minerals and the Coalition want to cut support for critical minerals.

BARR: Okay, Tim, could you answer that?

WILSON: Well firstly we don't believe in corporate welfare. We want to make sure that these industries are sustainable and there's a massive amount of global capital flowing into investing things like critical minerals. So, because the private sector needs them at an affordable price, I just ultimately don't think Australian taxpayers dollars should be going towards supporting industries that should be able to stand on their own two feet. This is the global environment we operate in where these critical minerals are in demand. But it's also important that Australia is benchmarked against the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to things like interest rates. Australia has had five interest rate hikes this year. The rest of the world has only basically had one or developed world has had one. The problem we have is a government that's addicted to spending. That's why Australian households are going backward. And until we get a government that pulls its belt in before it turns around to the Australian people and ask them to pull their belt in, sadly Australians are going to be worse off.

BARR: Yep, last word Tanya, because--

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Why won't you back the 10. Yeah, well why won't Tim back the $10 billion of savings that are stuck in the Senate? If he's serious about saving he should back the $10 billion.

WILSON: because you're targeting health care for pensioners.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: What nonsense. What nonsense--

WILSON: Tanya--

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: There's $4 billion of changes to trust, there's EV changes, there's a passenger movement change.

WILSON: You're punching down on pensioners, Tanya.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, what we're saying is the private health insurance rebate should be based on your income, not on your age. So an older couple living next door to a young family should get the same rebate. An older couple who earn the same as the young family next door--

WILSON: We need more Australians on private healthcare, Tanya.

BARR: Pensioners aren't going to be cut by that, Tanya? It's private health rebate.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: This is about people on the same income getting the same rebate, not based on age. People on the same income getting the same rebate. How is that unfair? A young family paying off a mortgage, raising their kids, paying for childcare, paying for schools should get the same amount of rebate as the couple next door who are earning the same amount of income, who may have paid off their house because they're a bit older, who don't have kids to feed and kids to send to school. How is it unfair that two households on the same income get different rebates? That's what we're proposing and that's what Tim's opposing.

BARR: Okay.

WILSON: I want to make it crystal clear. What we're opposing is the government's assault on pensioners. When you need more older Australians to be on private health--

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: That's nonsense.

WILSON: --because most people's health costs are actually at the latter stage of their life, you get those people off the private health system, they go on the public health system and the cost for the taxpayer soars.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: So, people on the same income, regardless of age, should get the same rebate. We support the rebate. We're saying that it shouldn't be based on age, it should be income based.

WILSON: So, on that basis, you want get rid of the age pension. This is insane, Tanya. We have policy settings that reflect the differing stages of life, understanding the essential services that Australians need. But more importantly, we actually want to get people off the cost of the health system and the Australian taxpayer and for them to take ownership and control.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: You've never backed investment in Medicare. You've never backed cheaper medicines--

BARR: We're going to leave it there. If you are in that older group over 65 and you get that rebate, explain to us how that works. If you're on the pension as well. Thank you very much.

ENDS