Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The government's decision to abolish the private health insurance rebate for millions of Australians is just another example of the bad and ideologically driven policy we get from this very incompetent and deeply divided Labor government. This broken promise on the private health insurance rebate is bad policy, it is bad for our health system and it is bad for patients right across Australia. Before the 2007 election the coalition was somewhat suspicious about the Labor Party's intentions in relation to private health insurance. So we made the assertion that Labor in government would do what they have done before—that is, undermine those Australians who take additional responsibility for their own healthcare needs by taking out private health insurance, who are putting additional money into the health system and who received a tax incentive from the Howard government to encourage them to put more of their own resources into the health system. Of course, whenever we made the assertion that Labor would do as they have always done—that is, make people who take additional responsibility for their own healthcare needs pay the price for the government's reckless and wasteful spending in other areas—Labor put their hands on their hearts and said: 'We wouldn't do that. We're not going to touch the private health insurance rebate. We're committed to the private health insurance rebate.' This government, which is completely untrustworthy—this Labor administration which made promise after promise before the election only to break them after the election—is now trying to put through the Senate a piece of legislation which has previously been rejected by the Senate.