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

I hear Senator Wong interjecting. In the six years of the previous Labor government the previous Labor government never moved to rescind the Medibank Private Sale Act, so presumably, as Minister for Finance, Senator Wong was entirely supportive of that measure. The reason these assertions are inaccurate is that Medibank Private operates as a commercial business in a highly competitive market. It also operates in a highly regulated market, and the setting of health insurance premiums is regulated. Given that Medibank Private operates in a commercial and competitive market with 34 health funds, Medibank will of course continue to have to be mindful of the premiums it charges members and policyholders in the context of the competition it faces from other funds. The Labor Party might not take my word for it, but this is the verdict of an ABC Fact Check, which says:

Medibank Private operates like a commercial business, with performance measured by the amount of profit it makes. A privatised Medibank Private may try to raise premiums, but it will still have to deal with strong government regulations and a highly competitive market.

Guess what—the Labor Party in government turned Medibank into a for-profit business. They then fleeced them, with special dividend after special dividend—$600 million of special dividends that this senator took out of Medibank when she was minister, and guess what? That put upward pressure on premiums—(Time expired)