Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

Having been a previous member of that committee, I am aware that this has been through an inquiry. But my understanding is that this point was raised repeatedly during the committee inquiry and hasn't been addressed in this legislation. I would very briefly read to you the legal advice the Greens got:

Trustees will carefully need to consider their obligations under the insurance covenants to determine whether it is permissible for those members who would like to opt in to be included in the same pool as those who are automatically opted in. Furthermore, trustees will need to determine whether those members who choose to opt in are permitted to do so under the terms of the group insurance policy negotiated between the fund and the insurer. For example, the cost of the policy to the fund may increase as a result of select members opting in. The trustee would need to determine whether this is consistent with the obligations under the insurance covenants. Where the trustee determines that it is not appropriate, different group insurance policies may need to be negotiated or, alternatively, insurers may require policies to be individually evaluated and underwritten.

This point was raised during the committee inquiry, and I still haven't got any sense as to whether there's a guarantee that people who are currently insured who are vulnerable—the most vulnerable cohort in this country—under a safety net set up by your previous government, the Howard government, are going to be guaranteed to be able to get coverage. Perhaps if Senator McAllister doesn't ask it, I'd also like to know what kinds of projections you have around the increased cost of coverage once this scheme is changed.