Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bendigo for his question. The government is committed to returning the budget to surplus as quickly as possible and to paying down debt. As a result of the global financial crisis having a very severe impact upon the budget, the government has to make tough decisions with respect to the budget position. Indeed, in the 2009 budget we did make tough decisions. Some of the critical tough decisions were application of a means test to the private health insurance rebate and an accompanying reform of the structure of the Medicare levy surcharge. These changes produced an estimated saving over the forward estimates of almost $2 billion and a saving for the budget over a period 10 years of just under $10 billion. Treasury modelling indicated that the net impact of these changes on the take-up of private health insurance would be very limited. They would be very, very marginal. They would mean that I would pay more and that people on incomes like mine would pay more for private health insurance. But I am afraid I do not see the logic of why ordinary working people on 50 or 60 grand a year should have their taxes paying subsidies to my private health insurance when many of those same working people cannot afford private health insurance for themselves. I do not see the logic of that.

The conservative parties—the Liberal Party and the National Party—are blocking these savings in the Senate. They are now facing the second attempt by the government to get these changes through the Senate and they are continuing to play games, trying to avoid the issue but, in effect, blocking these changes in the Senate.

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