STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr LITTLEPROUD (Maranoa) (13:44): Yesterday, the Senate voted to throw out the government's rebate that they were going to take from our elderly people for their health insurance. Not only did they vote to throw it out; they voted to throw it out without even debating it. That's how bad it was and how popular it was.

This thing is as popular as the pox. What this government is doing is taking away the rebate for health insurance for those over 65, a generation of Australians that built this country, did the right thing by this country and actually went out there and earned a living. They put money aside for their retirement, but also put money aside for their health to make sure that, in their twilight years, they could get private cover when they wanted it without being a burden on this country.

The government's own modelling had this at 44,000 Australians who would come off health insurance. We now find out that that's not the truth. In fact, it is 77,000.

That's come out of the health department numbers. They can't even be honest with the Australian people, or with the states, who will have to take up the burden of those 77,000 older Australians who will have to opt out of health insurance because they won't get the rebate and will turn up to a public hospital and take that care away from someone else. You just can't make this stuff up.

To show that sort of disdain for the generation of Australians that built this country that we're enjoying now shows this government is so out of touch that it's even forgotten who made this country.