Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was making a comment with respect to why business runs business better than government runs business. State governments, as I said, not only in the last few years but in the last 20 years—this is how Labor is stuck in the past—have sold off their government business enterprises not just in terms of insurance but across the board and, specifically, all of their own insurance companies. I have mentioned which ones they were and I can advise the Senate: the New South Wales GIO was sold in 1992 by the Greiner government; the SIO in Victoria was sold in 1992 by the Kirner Labor government; Suncorp Queensland was sold in 1997 by the Borbidge government; the SGIC in South Australia was sold in 1996 under the Brown and Olsen government; in 1993 the SGIO Western Australia was floated by the Lawrence government; and the TGIO, in 1995 by the Groom government. So the facts are on the record.

What reason is there for Medibank Private to remain in public ownership? How is it that such a large government funded asset is able to draw on taxpayers’ funds to bolster its own dominant position while being of no benefit to a large number of taxpayers, who I might add either have no private health insurance or have membership with other private insurers? What about those Australians? Are they being discriminated against? Is it fair to them? In my view, it is a distortion of the market, and the market cannot be and should not be tolerated to that degree. It is entirely unfair on other health funds and their members.