Follow The Money

Soaring specialist costs, an increasingly complex system, and Australians getting sicker for longer suggest all is not well in Australian health care.
On this episode of Follow the Money, Dr Luke Slawomirski and Matt Grudnoff join Ebony Bennett to discuss the soaring cost of specialists, why pushing people towards the private health system doesn’t take pressure off public hospitals, the government’s proposed changes to private health rebates, and how to ensure Australia doesn’t backslide towards US-style health care.
This episode was recorded on Tuesday 15 September.
Correction: During the discussion on Australian specialist costs, Luke mistakenly said that average costs in the Australian Capital Territory are six times higher than Tasmania. They are actually four times higher.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest edition in the Vantage Point series, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Guest: Luke Slawomirski, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the Australia Institute // @lukeslawomirski
Guest: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @mattgrudnoff
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
Australia has an illness system, not a health system by Luke Slawomirski, The Point (July 2026)
Millions delay or skip appointments as specialist care become too expensive for many Australians – new research, the Australia Institute (August 2026)
Why scrapping the age-based private health insurance rebate makes sense by Luke Slawomirski, The Point (September 2026)
The quarter of a trillion dollar shortfall leaving states and territories scrambling, the Australia Institute (September 2026)
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Support Follow the Money & the research powerful interests fear: https://theaus.in/4vs6XeO
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Non-compete clauses suppress wages, reduce productivity and stifle innovation. Now, the federal government is looking to ban them for most workers.
The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss the pernicious impact of non-compete clauses and the federal government’s new legislation seeking to ban them for 9-in-10 workers.
This episode was recorded on Tuesday 8 September.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest edition in the Vantage Point series, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Guest: Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and Federal Member for Fenner // @aleighmp
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
Reform to non-compete clauses and other restraints – draft legislation, Department of Treasury Consultation Hub
Government seeks to ban non-compete agreements for most workers by Jack Thrower, The Point Live (September 2026)
New data shows many businesses are now using non-compete clauses – and that’s bad for workers by Jack Thrower, the Australia Institute (February 2024)
The great unbinding: non‑competes, freedom and the future of competition, Sydney Institute address by the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP (September 2025)
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Support Follow the Money & the research powerful interests fear: https://theaus.in/4vs6XeO
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After years of scandals, it’s time to break up Australia’s ‘big four’ consultancy firms.
On this episode of Follow the Money, Josh Bornstein and Skye Predavec join Ebony Bennett to discuss Australia’s scandal-plagued big consultancies, the impact of governments’ “orgy of outsourcing” to these firms, and why breaking up the ‘big four’ is the best way to prevent future misconduct.
This episode was recorded on Wednesday 2 September.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest edition in the Vantage Point series, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Guest: Josh Bornstein, Director, Corporate Regulation, the Australia Institute // @joshbornstein
Guest: Skye Predavec, Researcher, the Australia Institute // @skyelark
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
Break up the Big Four by Josh Bornstein, Skye Predavec and Anara Watson, the Australia Institute (August 2026)
The KPMG scandal: We have seen this show before by Josh Bornstein, The Point (July 2026)
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Support Follow the Money & the research powerful interests fear: https://theaus.in/4vs6XeO
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government took on housing investor tax concessions to bring prices down, but more action is needed to address the rental affordability crisis.
On this episode of Follow the Money, Maiy Azize and Matt Grudnoff join Ebony Bennett to discuss how the government’s changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing are allowing more first-homebuyers to enter the market, the data revealing that migration isn’t the cause of the housing crisis, and the dire situation facing Australian renters.
This episode was recorded on Tuesday 25 August.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest edition in the Vantage Point series, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Guest: Maiy Azize, Chair, Everybody’s Home & Deputy Director, Anglicare Australia // @maiyazize
Guest: Matt Grunoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @mattgrudnoff
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
Priced Out 2026, Everybody’s Home (August 2026)
The Coalition’s answer to the housing crisis is a race to the bottom by Maiy Azize, The Point (August 2026)
House prices are cooling, exposing a stubborn political narrative for what it is by Maiy Azize, The Point (July 2026)
No, the housing tax changes won’t push up rents by Matt Grudnoff, The Point (August 2026)
It could take until 2037 to recover from Australia’s real wage collapse by Greg Jericho, The Point (August 2026)
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Support Follow the Money & the research powerful interests fear: https://theaus.in/4vs6XeO
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians have been dudded by the gas industry. It’s past time governments admitted it.
Dr Richard Denniss, Australia Institute co-CEO and author of More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss why Australia gives away gas to multinational corporations and why similarly dud deals could happen with Big Tech and other industries if we don’t learn lessons from the past.
This episode was recorded on Tuesday 18 August.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest edition in the Vantage Point series, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Guest: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Officer, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss
Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett
Show notes:
Australia’s gas giveaway, the Australia Institute
David Pocock, Greens call for investigation into $1.5 billion Middle Arm investment 'shrouded in secrecy' by Roxanne Fitzgerald, ABC News (August 2024)
What’s the Point? with Richard Denniss, the Australia Institute
Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au. Subscribe to Follow the Money on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Support Follow the Money & the research powerful interests fear: https://theaus.in/4vs6XeO
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.