Also many European countries (for example Sweden and Norway) currently have much older populations than Australia - and treat their elderly much better than we treat ours - and these countries are not facing economic ruin. Maybe we could learn from them.

There is no reason to argue as the report seems to imply that there is some iron law that means that taxes cannot rise. Our public sector is small in OECD terms. There is also evidence that Australians are willing to pay more in taxes for more and better health care - and we have what many countries lack a neat ‘earmarked’ tax for health - the Medicare levy to allow this to happen.

This is all a political beat up and distraction. In the next 40 years there will be major shifts on the supply side to cope with increased demand. There are too many hospital beds currently occupied inappropriately in both health and money terms by elderly patients. That needs to change and it will change.

What we need instead of this silly distraction are two things. First we need to examine the efficiency of the current health care system and especially the tertiary hospitals and second we need at both state and federal level an informed, transparent, explicit, rational priority setting system - ideally driven by the values of the informed citizenry.