Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

This amendment is identical to the Democrat amendment except that our amendment places the clause a line further down, so we certainly support this and cannot see any reason why the provision should have been removed from the objectives by this bill. Again, I speak from the perspective of consumers on this issue. I am surprised the government would not want to also emphasise the importance of keeping premiums down. The affordability of premiums is what keeps people in private health insurance, as the government well knows—that is why it provides the rebate. It is a small matter, but I would have thought it was an important one. The government should support it.