House debates Bills
Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026; Second Reading
Dan Tehan Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction
6:53 pm
Oh, there are no speakers on their side. They're courageous as well, aren't they?
Every state and territory leader said: 'This isn't good. This isn't smart. This is bad. This is going to just cost-shift from your budget onto ours. This is madness.' Yet, do they listen to every single one of these state and territory leaders? No, they don't.
I hadn't realised this. Here's the speakers list for the House of Representatives. It says, 'Tuesday 15 September 2026, Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill'—that's what they called it! Oh, this is 'modern' Australia, hitting 1.5 million pensioners in a cost-of-living crisis with $800 if you're a single and over $1,000 if you're a double! This is 'modernising' Australia. Well, I'll tell you what: I don't want to be a part of modern Australia under the Albanese Labor government. This is not modernising.
It's funny because I thought that all of them would be in here defending their 'modernising' of the private health insurance rebate. I thought they would all be in here defending this, because this is obviously really important. If you truly believe that you're modernising the private health insurance rebate, you'd be singing from the rafters about it.
I wonder how many of them have put out in their electorates that they're doing this. Do you reckon they've had direct mail-outs to over-65s saying, 'We're about to hit you with an $800 extra fee for your private health insurance and, if you're a couple, over $1,000'? Do you think they've done that? I wonder whether the member opposite, the member for Bruce, has let all his—
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