Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The government cares about achieving the best possible outcomes for people across Australia. That is what we are focused on. The coalition has been committed to the sale of Medibank Private for a very long time. It is a commercial business operating in a competitive, highly regulated environment. There is no good reason why the government should continue to own a private health fund in those circumstances. I refer Senator Di Natale also to the findings of the esteemed ABC Fact Check, which indicated very clearly that the sale of Medibank Private would not lead to increases in private health insurance premiums. A highly competitive private health insurance market without the involvement of the government as a market participant will be good news for people across Australia that are privately insured. This is all part of the work that we are currently doing— (Time expired)