Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I seek this opportunity to put the perspective of the government on what is a rather technical matter—that is, the question of which committee should deal with the Medibank Private Sale Bill 2006. The issue before us is whether the bill should go before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration or whether it should go before the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs.

It is the government’s view that the most appropriate committee to consider this bill is the finance and public administration committee. This bill provides for the mechanism by which a government business asset—that is, Medibank Private Ltd—is to be sold. It is a technical bill dealing with all the sale issues involved. It is being handled by the Department of Finance and Administration. The Minister for Finance and Administration is the relevant minister. The minister for finance is the shareholder minister in Medibank Private Ltd. The bill—and what this committee is meant to do is deal with provisions in a bill—deals with all those technicalities. It talks about the Medibank Private sale scheme, the profit status of Medibank Private, the restrictions on ownership of Medibank Private companies, Australian identity, Medibank Private companies and restrictions on the transfer of assets and liabilities of the Medibank Private fund. Those are the matters to be considered by the committee that deals with this bill. It is obvious and logical that that is the jurisdiction of the finance and public administration committee.

With respect to Senator George Campbell’s arguments, I remind him that, back in April, when the Minister for Health and Ageing and I announced the sale of Medibank Private, we also announced the government’s intention to introduce significant reforms to private health insurance in this country in order to make it a more attractive product for consumers and to enhance the viability of the whole private health insurance industry. Legislation to give effect to those policy objectives is currently being finalised and will soon be ready for debate and discussion. I foreshadow that from the point of view of the government, subject to the views of those opposite and all members of the chamber, the most appropriate committee to deal with that legislation is indeed the community affairs committee. That is legislation that will deal with the whole issue of private health insurance and private health insurance reform, not the sale of a particular government business.

I urge the opposition, in moving to have the Medibank Private Sale Bill referred to the community affairs committee, to consider that point: the parliament will be dealing with wider reform issues in a reform bill. I am not sure whether we will get to it in this session, but certainly we will in the next session of parliament. I anticipate that the government will support a proposal that that bill go to the community affairs committee. But it is the government’s clear view that a bill dealing with the technical issues related to the sale of a government business should be dealt with by the most appropriate committee, which is the finance and public administration committee.

We think it is a perversion of the Senate committee process to attempt to send this bill to the wrong committee. It reminds us of why the Senate committee structure did need reform, which was the abuse of the Senate committee system which had been evident in the last few years. It is an abuse to send this bill to the wrong committee. It is clear to anyone examining this issue objectively that the appropriate committee is the finance and public administration committee.