Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

This legislation is about health, and, certainly, I want to acknowledge the member for Pearce and her contributions to the parliament. What she does and how she does it—she's somebody who shows a lot of pluck, and I do absolutely applaud you, Member for Pearce. You are an inspiration; you truly are.

I want to also acknowledge the member for Lyons, the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, for attending a 5 March professionalism framework launch of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges. That particular meeting, a very important one, was addressed by Associate Professor Kerin Fielding from Wagga Wagga, who is president of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges. She's also an orthopaedic surgeon. She laid bare the difficulties with regional health as opposed to metropolitan services.

The member for Mallee, the shadow minister for regional health, has also just given a fine speech to the House of Representatives about the issues for people in country areas accessing health. The Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026 is a bill which makes two key changes to Australia's private health system. First, it brings in transparency by default, with amendments to allow the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to publish information on the Medical Costs Finder about the medical fees charged by medical practitioners, including specialists and GPs, and the likely out-of-pocket costs patients will incur through their private healthcare experience. That is a good and wise step.

The second change contained in this bill is focused on regulating private health insurance premiums. It requires insurers to seek ministerial approval for premiums for new products and for existing products where certain changes are suggested. I'm not against ministers having more powers. In fact, I've spoken a number of times in recent months about government ministers—Labor ministers—abrogating their responsibilities when it comes to actually doing their jobs. The jobs of ministers should not be fulfilled by the bureaucrats in the Public Service. Whilst we have some outstanding public servants—I acknowledge that—they are not the ones who have the final say and the imprimatur on a piece of legislation coming before the House or the Senate. They are not the ones who make the calls and the decisions. All too often, I believe, this government is outsourcing more and more of the work that should be done by ministers, who have the final say. The buck has to stop with them.

The second change to which I referred broadly aligns with the current process for premium changes for existing products while enlarging ministerial oversight of premium setting of new private health insurance products. The change is attempting to address the risk of product phoenixing, where an existing insurance product can be closed and an identical or similar new product then opened at a higher premium, skirting and getting around the requirement for premium change approval. The coalition is not going to stand in the way of this, because what we want to see is people being able to access help, certainly in regional areas. Particularly at the moment, as the member for Mallee outlined, there are so many people who cannot access their health diagnosis. They cannot get to their doctors' appointments at the practice or the surgery simply because they can't afford to pay for the fuel—that's if they could even fill up their tank, because, at the moment, we've got a crisis.

We've got a national crisis with the availability of fuel. There are more than 600 petrol stations which are out of fuel, and that is causing problems, particularly in regional Australia, and particularly for chronically ill people—and even for those who just need to see their doctor because they may have got an overnight sniffle, or worse—and that's not good. That is not good.

I refer to that 5 March gathering where Associate Professor Fielding talked about the issues and the vast difference between accessing health services in country areas and elsewhere. She said:

Across Australia, too many people are doing the same, travelling long distances or unable to travel, worried about accessing the care they need.

She was referring to questions her 90-year-old mother had raised:

How much will this cost me?

What if I can't afford it?

How long will I have to wait and how far will I have to travel?

Associate Professor Fielding went on to say:

They're getting bills they didn't expect, or they're avoiding a referral altogether because they don't know what it will cost.

The Minister recently told Parliament that over 800,000 Australians delayed specialist care last year because of affordability. That is a serious problem. Australia has one of the best health systems in the world and every Australian should be able to access affordable, high-quality specialist care without risking financial hardship.

I don't think there's anybody in the parliament who would disagree with Associate Professor Fielding's remarks. She said:

But many patients face a different barrier. They can't see a specialist at any price, because there isn't one locally. Rural Australia has 2.7 doctors per thousand people compared to Cities which have 4.3. Potentially preventable hospitalisations are 30 per cent higher in outer regional areas and 70 per cent higher in remote communities.

Thirty per cent of the country's population are too often overlooked, and for too long, our health system has been built around metropolitan centres. The consequences of that are felt every day in regional communities. The communities that grow and provide our food and much more!

And she's right.

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