House debates Questions without Notice
Medibank Private
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
3:05 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware that, yesterday, radio commentator Alan Jones—
Government Members:
James?
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Government Members:
Government members interjecting—
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
No, I said Alan Jones said the following—
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Government Members:
Government members interjecting—
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
And you know him well!
David Hawker Speaker
Order! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Government Members:
Government members interjecting—
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury
It’s called an Australian accent!
David Hawker Speaker
The member for Ballarat will remove herself under standing order 94(a).
The member for Ballarat then left the chamber.
Kelvin Thomson Wills, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Public Accountability and Human Services
You’ve got McGauran interjecting all the time!
David Hawker Speaker
And the member for Wills will too. The Leader of the Opposition will be heard!
The member for Wills then left the chamber.
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
It seems they are having difficulty hearing me, Mr Speaker, which is fair enough. Is the Prime Minister aware that, yesterday, radio commentator Alan Jones said the following about the sale of Medibank Private:
So surely, if the thing is to be sold, its members are morally entitled to the assets of the fund.
… … …
Worse, if you are a member … and you think you own it, you are now going to be asked to pay for a slice of it when it’s sold.
That’s … financially unjust …
Prime Minister, is Alan Jones right?
John Howard Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
It is well known that I know Alan Jones, I like Alan Jones and I think Alan Jones is an outstanding broadcaster. But I do not on every single issue agree with everything that Mr Jones says, and on this particular issue, rather like the health minister’s response to the President of the Australian Medical Association, I very respectfully have another view.