Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026
Ms BELL (Moncrieff) (12:18): I rise today to speak on the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026—or so it's called. If I were to rename this bill, I would call it a thwack to the over-65s in my community and around the country, who have saved and worked their whole lives. I note, when I look across the chamber, there aren't any Labor members here willing to stand up and defend their communities, who have saved and scraped together the cost of their health insurance to pay for years and years.
They have worked hard to be able to pay for private health insurance so that, when they retire in their older years—after 65, let's say—they can actually access the health care they need. This government has now pulled that rug out from under my community, from under all of those who are over 65 who have private health insurance. I want to start by talking about the people that work in this sector and thanking them for the work that they do, caring for older Australians in particular—nurses, doctors and admin officers, all those in private hospitals and public hospitals across the country but also across my community on the Gold Coast.
We know that there are long hours. We know that you are stretched in the health system. We know the pressures that you have.
And we know that people that work in the health system really do care about the health of Australians, particularly the older Australians that they look after. Your patience, your support—your work is invaluable, and we on this side of the chamber stand with you in that work that you do, and thank you. The changes in this bill really are a blatant attack on my community on the Gold Coast because stripping back this rebate means that people who have private health insurance have to find that extra money every year that the government is now pocketing because it is not paying that rebate.
Now, that is tantamount in my mind to theft from over-65s, who have an understanding of what the health operations are—what the settings are in health. The government has moved the goalposts on their plans for retirement, and what it means to those over-65s is they have to cut down their spending on other essentials. That means they have to go without because the government has stolen that money that they have banked on since their retirement.
They have to downgrade their cover or drop it all together. And what does that mean, for those who are listening? What does that mean in reality?
It means that they can no longer access that health insurance, which means they can't access the doctor or the hospital that they choose for their health care. So that means they'll go where? They'll go to the public health system.
They'll go to a public hospital. Other people who can't afford health insurance will also be at the public hospital, so there will be even more pressure on the public health system. This is not about wealthy retirees with private health insurance, because National Seniors Australia has found that as many as 45 per cent of people whose sole source of income is the age pension hold private health insurance.
So this is an attack on all Australians who have built this country. They've worked their whole lives. They've paid their health insurance dues every month, and it's been going up under this government like anything, increasing every single year.
I pay health insurance myself. I've seen it go up from when I first started. Personally, I've had private health insurance for, I don't know, 25 years.
I haven't used it much, but, when I have needed it, it's been there. I've been able to choose my doctor and been able to choose my healthcare environment. That's what older Australians deserve, and that is what this government is taking away from them.
The government admits that 1.2 million pensioners will face financial pressures as a result. The government are admitting they are making your life harder when it comes to your health insurance. They will pocket $3 billion from the change—$3 billion.
They're raiding your retirement piggy bank; that's what they're doing. This is what happens when the Albanese government runs out of money: it comes after yours. I have to say that the timing of this could not be worse for over-65s around the country.
The government is stripping back the private health rebate at a time when they need it the most. It's not fair. It's them moving the Gold Coast—goalposts.
Sorry, I've got the Gold Coast on the mind. Of course, the Gold Coast is very close to my heart. These are the people that it's going to hit the most—Gold Coasters over 65 and others around the country who are over 65.
The minister says hard decisions need to be made. He stood in this place and said hard decisions need to be made. I can't imagine him sleeping very well at night, knowing that he is punishing over-65s in this country who have worked their entire lives to make sure that they can retire and access private health insurance.
It is absolutely disgusting because the cost of living at the moment is taking every single cent from people who are on a fixed income—our retirees over 65 in this country. Energy is up by nearly 40 per cent. Food is up by nearly 20 per cent.
Rents are up 24 per cent. Healthcare costs are up by 20 per cent on top of this, and this decision is just another blow to the already stretched budgets of older Australians. Retirees will have to reassess what they can afford.
People on fixed incomes, like age pensioners and even self-funded retirees who have a fixed income, do not have the wiggle room for this drastic change. The pressure that it will put on the public system when we look into the future is outrageous. It's going to make life much harder for those healthcare workers that I started talking about in the beginning—those nurses, those doctors, those admin people, the support workers in hospitals and other public settings.
It's going to put even more pressure on them as more and more over-65s are forced to access the public system. The government modelling claims that 44,000 will drop their cover, and Medibank modelling suggests it's more like 91,000. People who have Medibank, HCF or Bupa will be forced into this change.
Every state government has criticised the bill, and that includes coalition and Labor governments. This is a blatant money grab against over-65s in this country, and there's not a Labor member here that's willing to stand up and defend their communities after I've made this speech. It's an absolute disgrace.
We on this side support choice for Australians. When it comes to public and private, I can hark back to a great prime minister, John Howard, who talked about the benefits to our country of private and public not just in education settings but also in health settings. What it means is that those who can afford private health insurance cover and to access the private system do so.
It takes pressure off the public system. That is the same in health care as it is in education, and having both as an option in our country is very important for choice. What John Howard said as a warning in 2006 was: The great test of our policy balance in coming decades will be our ability to reconcile inexorable demographic change with demands of Australians for even greater choice in education, health, family support and work opportunities.
This will only be done by staying the course with reforms to the way we work and to our welfare arrangements. The first of the baby boomers are now turning 60. This milestone roughly coincides with the beginning of an expected decline in Australia's labour force participation rate over coming decades.
And he was right. What Labor are doing is ruining our country when it comes to your choice, particularly if you are over 65 and particularly if you're on the end of this money grab by this terrible, woeful Albanese Labor government. I want to talk about the local impact in my community.
Recently I took our shadow health minister, Senator Anne Ruston, to Lady Small Haven Retirement Village in Benowa. It's a beautiful retirement village whose residents wanted to talk about this change. They were disgusted, disappointed, upset, angry with this government for making this change, for doing all those things that I just talked about, for moving the goalposts as this government has done on so many other things—and I'll get to broken promises next.
But we spoke to residents at Lady Small Haven. Across the road from them is Pindara Private Hospital. Many Gold Coasters, me included, have been under the care of Pindara Hospital at different times.
That is a private hospital, and many of the residents at Lady Small Haven that have private health insurance were very concerned that they would no longer be able to access that hospital across the road. Across the road—no ambulance needed if you need to go over to Pindara. Now all of that is at risk under this government.
The residents chose Lady Small Haven for that very convenience—so that they could access their health care directly across the road. This is, make no mistake, an attack on my community on the Gold Coast. This broken promise on health care is just another one on top of all of the other promises.
It started before the election when the government changed. We might recall that the Prime Minister said that he would give you $275 back on your electricity bill. That was the first broken promise.
Australians know that their electricity bills have gone up by 40 per cent under this government, and that's not going to change any time soon. They promised no changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing, and here they are. The Prime Minister says, 'We've changed our position,' and Australians have to suck that up.
Australians have to pay the price for this government's woeful, woeful choices. They promised transparency, yet corruption is alive and well on that side of the House. We've seen that this week with the Prime Minister delivering a $6 million grant to the golf club across the road, pushing up house prices in the area and fixing the sewage there.
He was a member and didn't declare it—corruption. The government has broken every single promise that it's put out there. The Prime Minister said in 2021 that, 'When I make a promise, I'll keep it because promises matter.' 'My word is my bond,' he said to Australians very loudly and very clearly.
But I have to say that this country is going backwards under this Prime Minister and his ministry. Australians cannot afford this government any longer, and it's for these reasons that I stand here and plead with this government to stop. Stop shifting costs.
Start focusing on care and what matters most to Australians. To the Minister for Health and Ageing, stop it. Change course.
Look after over-65s. Stop stripping away their choice and start recognising the importance of balance. Australian health care is strongest when our public and private systems work together.
To every Labor member whose community put their trust in you, I plead with you: don't punish older Australians like this. The minister is saying that difficult choices have to be made. We've got the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel sitting across from us, and he's had to make some difficult choices too—that is, capping health care for veterans at $5,000.
That is absolutely disgraceful. Not only is this government attacking over-65s and taking your money, but this government is also attacking veterans. At the very heart of our nation is our veteran community.
I have 3,000 veterans in Moncrieff on the Gold Coast, all very close to my heart. I have three RSL subbranches, and this government is thwacking you as well. They don't respect over-65s.
They don't respect the veteran community. They certainly don't respect small and family business like we do on this side of the House. They move the goalposts— Mr Holzberger: The Gold Coast!
Ms McKenzie: for first home owners. They move to the Gold Coast! Thank you very much, member for Forde.
Everybody is moving to the Gold Coast. They move the goalposts. They lie to Australians, and it's not right.
They need to stop, do a U-turn and fix this bill now.