Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I certainly would not worry about taking a point of order on the member for O’Connor as it was challenging enough trying to follow his thought process when I was listening to his speech on the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 and related legislation. In starting my contribution to this debate, I would like to pick up on a couple of things that the member for O’Connor said. I will pick up on breast malignancies. For the benefit of the member for O’Connor, I am interested not only in breast malignancies. I am just as interested in seeing that men suffering from prostate malignancies get the kind of treatment that they should receive. My interest in a health matter is not determined by gender factors.

I would say to the member for O’Connor he really demonstrated to the House tonight just how out of touch he is and really how little aware he is of the health system. I would refer the member to a report that was brought down in the last parliament by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing. Called The Blame Game: report on the inquiry into health funding, it highlighted a number of problems within the health system and I would say to the member for O’Connor that the problems that he was highlighting are not problems that were highlighted in that particular report. That report did recognise the importance of private health insurance, just as I recognise the importance of private health insurance and just as the government recognises the importance of private health insurance. The member for O’Connor made a comment that public hospitals get budgets. For the member’s information, private hospitals also work to budgets. Budgets are a very important instrument for any organisation.

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