Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. What was the outcome of the latest private health insurance premium round and what are the latest statistics on private health insurance?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dobell for his question. Obviously he, like all members of the House, is interested in the issue of private health insurance. It is a particularly timely question, given that the other place has just voted against the first of the private health insurance rebate measures. The opposition have blown a $2 billion hole in the budget and have no health policies of any substance to put forward to the public. We are committed to making sure that private health insurance is affordable for low- and middle-income earners. This year I used my powers under the Private Health Insurance Act to ask for resubmissions from more than half of the health funds, as their proposed increases were too high. This has resulted in lower rebates for 75 per cent of private health members, some 8.5 million people.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Six per cent!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Rudd interjecting

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don’t trust her figures, Kevin.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is interesting to hear the shadow Treasurer and the shadow health minister yelling out from the other side of the House, because the announced increase of 5.78 per cent that I made yesterday—an increase is never good news for families—was a smaller increase than it would have been. For all of the hollering from those opposite I do need to advise them that when their dear leader was the health minister the average increase under Mr Abbott was 6.44 per cent. I think, to be fair to the Leader of the Opposition, we should acknowledge that his average was 6.44 per cent but the average over the last five years of the coalition was 6.63 per cent. So he did have a slightly better average, but it is still significantly higher.

The truth is no-one ever wants these premiums to go up. The obligation of the government that we take far more seriously than those opposite ever did is to make sure that the increases are kept to the absolute minimum that is necessary. The approach that the Leader of the Opposition took when he was the health minister was just a simple tick and flick: they asked, he gave and the premiums went up. I did wonder whether we were being a bit unfair to the Leader of the Opposition, because he was no doubt pretty busy working out what he was going to do with several thousand golf balls that he paid $6,000 for!

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Randall interjecting

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning is asking if he could have one of the golf balls. Unfortunately, I do need to advise the House that my department has told me some 2,700 of these golf balls are stored in a warehouse. I think, although the member for Canning is no doubt a worthy recipient, what I would like to encourage the House to do is to tell me of any worthy charity that might actually be able to do something useful with these golf balls, because they certainly are not going to help get any doctors into rural areas.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You need a new speechwriter.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is interesting, because the member for Dickson, I am told, is a golf fan. I am prepared to offer him some balls if he want some!

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will continue with her response and bring it to an early conclusion, I hope.

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I confess I do not have this on good authority, but I understand that his application for membership of the Surfers Paradise Golf Club is still pending. I wish him good luck. But in all seriousness, I was very concerned to hear the member for Dickson out spruiking that any increase in the premiums was an outrage. He was asked on radio this morning what premium increase he would have approved. His response, at least initially, was quite a sensible one. He said, ‘I would allow a reasonable amount.’ Fair enough. But he was asked what that reasonable amount would be, and he said, ‘Well, uh, I can’t put a figure on it.’ So he is happy to go out and criticise us for an increase which is smaller than was projected by the industry and the media and was smaller than the record of the leader that the operates under, but he actually has no figure to put forward himself.

The facts are very clear: since we have come into government an extra 474,000 people have taken out private hospital cover and coverage has increased to 44.7 per cent, which is the highest level of coverage since 2001. The facts are very clear: private health insurers are enjoying growing membership, the government has acted to keep premium rises to a minimum and the Liberals simply stand for premium-hike free-for-alls. As the shadow Treasurer said, he would not want to intervene in a free market and wants to sell off Medibank. Of course, they also stand for rebates for millionaires. It is not a very good record. I am happy to offer these golf balls to the member if he would like some.