Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to condemn the Albanese Labor government and its continued attack on older regional Western Australians. At a time when Australians are already struggling with rising grocery prices, soaring power bills and higher fuel costs, Labor is now forcing Australians over 65 to pay hundreds of dollars more each year for private health insurance. This is not a minor inconvenience. For many older Australians living on fixed incomes, it is a serious financial burden.

Recently, I heard from a constituent. We'll call her Jan. Jan and her husband have been paying for private health insurance since 1974. They are self-funded retirees now in their 70s, living about 800 kilometres north of Perth. Jan is a breast cancer survivor and told me she was fortunate to receive surgery quickly and in a timely manner because she had private health cover. I hope the Prime Minister is listening. Jan said:

I personally feel we are being let down and PERHAPS we would have been better off spending our money so we could get the pension card that provides everything FREE instead of working hard and saving for a so-called 'stress free' retirement!

Now that we are no longer a majority of the private health fund insured OR voting cohort, this Government does yet another cash grab from the vulnerable. This decision is absolutely discriminatory and needs to be reversed.

That is the frustration and disappointment older Australians are feeling right now. In my electorate of Durack, nearly a quarter of residents will be directly affected by these changes, and, in regional Western Australia, private health insurance is not simply an optional extra. For many people, it is an absolute necessity.

Regional Australians already face fewer healthcare services, long waits to see specialists and limited treatment options, yet this government has chosen to impose increases of up to 21 per cent on private health cover for older Australians. Labor has ignored a basic reality: older Australians rely on health care more often and at a stage of life when affordable access matters most. Sadly, Labor doesn't care about our seniors. They have calculated that this easy tax grab has no political outcome, and that is what is so wicked and despicable about this change. They don't think this demographic votes for them anyway, so therefore there is no political outcome. They actually don't care. I really hope that senior Australians are picking up on this, because the response to me has been overwhelming. We launched a survey asking constituents whether they could afford any increase, and, not surprisingly, we had an unbelievable, overwhelming response. This survey is still available on my website www.melissapricemp.com.au.

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