Federal election 2022: Senator Anne Ruston to replace retiring health minister Greg Hunt

The woman set to become the new health minister if the Morrison Government wins the election is on a mission — and she’s revealed what’s on top of her list.

The woman tapped to replace Greg Hunt as health minister if the Morrison Government is re-elected wants to make getting Australia’s kids back into sport her priority.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce on Sunday that South Australian Senator Anne Ruston, who is currently Minister for Families and Social Services will move to Health if the Government is returned next month.

In an exclusive interview with News Corp, Senator Ruston said she was keen to improve activity among the nation’s youngsters.

“Obviously a healthy lifestyle starts from when you were a kid and so we need to make sure that we are encouraging all people, but children, particularly, to make sure that they are living active lives, and we know that, young children often are not as active as they might be,” Senator Ruston said.

“There is a recommendation that children between the age of five and 14 should be active for at least 60 minutes a day and research shows that is not being achieved by a significant number of children.”

Senator Anne Ruston and her son Tom Fewster, pictured in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

To change that Senator Ruston wants to make sure “that the schools have got the wherewithal to be providing children with the opportunities to play sport at school.

“But also I think encouraging at a grassroots level through clubs and local sporting associations, making sure that they are being encouraged because it is through the local community and sport at a grassroots level, that I think kids learn the value and the enjoyment and the understanding of sport.”

She rejected any call for a sugar tax as a way of tackling Australia’s growing obesity epidemic.

“I’m a Liberal, so I don’t believe in taxing where it’s not, not needed,” she said.

“We don’t want to regulate people’s lives, what we want to do is to make sure that people have got the information so that they can make the choices in the face of that information.

“I think the best way to encourage people to, to have a healthy life as make sure that they know how to do it, and make sure they’ve got the information and the wherewithal to be able to make those choices for themselves and their families.”

Senator Anne Ruston's mum Joy Ruston was a nurse in the late 1950s. Picture: Supplied

Senator Ruston’s connection to the health system began at an early age through her mother Joy who worked as a nurse in the town of Renmark where she grew up.

“Mum was, was a nurse the entire time I was growing up (so) health and wellbeing has always been something that’s been just part of everything that we ever thought about: growing up healthy, growing up being active, growing up looking after ourselves, and being aware of those sorts of things, was something that was very, very strong in my upbringing,” she said.

She said the post-pandemic healthcare system would be different to what had been there before.

“One thing that Covid probably taught us more than anything else, is that, as policymakers, we need to make sure that the essential services that Australians do rely on are delivered in a way that that’s flexible and responds to the way the world is changing and there would be no one thing that has been a bigger game changer in the health system than telehealth,” she said.

“That’s why we’ve made telehealth permanent and universal. We also know that there are some types of reasons for consultation that actually benefit from telehealth, things like mental health and psychological appointments, people feel more comfortable with actually doing it in the comfort of their own home

“So, I think, telehealth is probably one of the greatest examples of how this crisis has enabled us to transition our health system, to add this really important new way of delivering health in Australia, which has been embraced so strongly by Australians.”

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Originally published as Federal election 2022: Senator Anne Ruston to replace retiring health minister Greg Hunt