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

I thank Senator Moore for her question and note her interest in the government’s commitment to making sure that health care is accessible to and affordable for all Australians. The government knows that families are doing it tough and battling to balance the books. That is why we have worked very hard to ensure that private health insurance remains affordable for Australian families. The people of Australia can be very sure that premium increases would be a lot higher under the out-of-touch Liberal Party, whose extreme free marketeers have already signalled their will to let the market rip and let health premiums off the leash. Just last week, the shadow Treasurer, Mr Joe Hockey, said:

The problem with the market is that ultimately premium increases are the decision of a Minister, so it’s not a pure market.

In contrast, the government has worked hard to keep these increases to an absolute minimum. This year, the Minister for Health and Ageing has asked for resubmissions from over half of the health funds as their proposed increases were too high. The result has been lower rebates for 75 per cent of private health members, some 8.5 million people across the country. Average premiums will increase by 5.78 per cent from 1 April. This increase is lower than last year’s increase, it is lower than industry expectations and it is below the 2009 consumer price index of 5.9 per cent for hospitals and medical services. It is significantly lower than it was during the opposition leader’s four years as health minister, when the average increase was 6.63 per cent. Mr Abbott’s extreme beliefs were evident then, as his extreme policies continue to be evident now, and any attempt by the opposition to claim that they are sticking up for low-income families is, quite frankly, ridiculous.