Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, this announcement has attracted a lot of media interest and clearly interest from the opposition, including our press articles on 13 May 2008. It is estimated to result in published savings of around $299 million over the first four years. This measure was squarely targeted at bringing relief to working families, and it will offer welcome relief for over two million Australians. When the policy was introduced by the former government, they said:

High income earners will be asked to pay a Medicare Levy surcharge if they do not have private health insurance ... These are the people who can afford to purchase health insurance, and this measure will relieve some of the pressure on the public hospital system.

That is what was said. These thresholds, originally targeted at high-income earners, have not been moved in a decade. This was a dirty trick played by the previous Liberal government on hundreds of thousands of Australians. That is what it was. I would like to challenge the Liberal Party to find someone who is earning $51,000 who thinks that they are a high-income earner.

We promised in opposition to review this measure, and we have. As a result of this change, individuals will be up to $1,000 a year better off—and up to $1,500 for a couple. The Commonwealth government strongly believes that a mixed model of private and public health services is essential to the provision of universal access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services for all Australians, unlike, it seems from the interruptions from the other side, the current opposition. We are strong supporters of private health insurance and have delivered on all of our election promises in this area. We will retain the full package of private health insurance rebates, a policy which ends the previous government’s practice—