Sarah Kanowski

What about also, Lucinda, the cohort of people, and this would be a growing number, who don't have children or maybe have only one child who's not nearby or able to care for them?

I mean, who's carrying the brunt of those years of care for all of those elderly people?

If we zoom out and take a broader view of the social impact, tell me what's happening economically in Australia as a consequence of our increasingly older population.

And there'll be fewer people of working age to pay for all of that care as the other part of that.

How is it shaping also the economic prospects of younger Australians?

And there are, you know, a slew of specific tax subsidies and other factors in our economy that are designed to support older Australians, and that comes at a consequence.

I mean, the housing market is, I guess, the most obvious of those, but it extends across many different parts of the economy.

They were really locked out.

So there's this sort of parallel things of increased life expectancy and widening inequality within one's society.

Well, you know, having laid out the problem, Lucinda, I guess the question is what can be done about it?

I mean, can anything be done about it?

Because is this longevity just an inevitable side effect of our improved medical care and social prosperity?

Well, let's look at some of the specific suggestions that you put forth in your book.

Firstly, looking at the elderly themselves, what kind of ways are there for those people to have more choice about their own old age and death?

And palliative care talked about in a way that it's not a failure or a giving up, but actually in and of itself can be a very meaningful option for people.

with true gentleness, not pretend gentleness.

The introduction of Voluntary Sister dying into this conversation, I mean, it could put an awful pressure on older people who might already be feeling unwanted, already feeling that they're a burden.

Does that bother you?

You also make the bold case, Lucinda, for a little bit of ageism, which kind of goes against the way that society has been heading in terms of discrimination.

What's your argument for justifying a bit of discrimination based on age?