Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. This morning the Minister

for Health said he would put a stop to the proposal from the government's secret Medicare task force before the 24 March COAG meeting. Why did the government's secret Medicare task force meet on 28 March, and its proposal was again discussed just two weeks ago? And why did the deputy secretary of the health department today confirm that the government will continue to engage with the secret Medicare task force? If the task force has been stopped, how come it is still going?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me put a very simple proposition: Labor hates private health insurance. We love private health insurance. This idea that they are proposing is not government policy, will not be government policy and will never be government policy under the coalition.

Do you know what? When I first heard about this, when we first discussed it in February, on the first day that I discussed this with the department I took it off, rejected it from the COAG agenda and said: 'No, thank you. There's a reason we're not doing it. It sounds like Labor policy.' And do you know what? It is Labor policy. Here is what we saw on the front—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister knows the rules on props.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am reading through my notes, Mr Speaker.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will remove his prop.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'Fears ALP to axe $6bn health insurance rebate'. Labor's plan to scrap $6 billion rebate would 'destroy' Medicare. That was on the front page of The Australian only a month ago. It further states:

The private health insurance­rebate could face further cuts under Labor after confidential discussions between insurance groups and the opposition sparked fears the $6 billion rebate could be abolished …

There we have the shadow Treasurer with his head down now. He knows we have caught him ratting around and briefing private health insurance groups that he wanted to do what the member for Sydney did, and that is rip the heart out of private health insurance. Last time, before Labor came into government, they said that they would not touch private health insurance. What did the member for Sydney say after they left government? 'How did I pay for it? I paid for it by targeting private health insurance.' That is what the member for Sydney did. She ripped the heart out of private health insurance, and that is what the shadow Treasurer has been doing. They have been caught going around the private health insurance groups, looking to strip private health insurance and then to abolish it. Let me be absolutely clear: this idea of a Commonwealth hospital benefit is rejected clearly, categorically and absolutely.