Thursday, 10 September 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (22:11): (2811) My matter is for the attention of the Minister for Health. I am deeply concerned about the federal government’s decision – Mr Albanese’s decision – to impose new charges on senior Victorians and senior Australians more broadly. Those over 65 will pay hundreds of dollars more for their private health insurance because a support rebate that has been there for many years will be removed by the Albanese Labor government. A larger rebate is provided for those over 70, and that will also be removed. This will add hundreds and hundreds of dollars – actually perhaps more than $800 – to the bills of those over 70, so this is a huge additional cost on families and on older Victorians.

The concern here is twofold. First of all, many will drop their cover or reduce the level of cover, and this will force many older Victorians back into the public system, removing their choices. They will have to go onto the waiting list. There will be additional pressure; I say this as a former health minister. We were very aware of the need for a balanced health system, with a strong private sector but a very, very strong public sector. This will hurt both sectors – the federal government’s decision to remove these longstanding supports for private health insurance for older Victorians, those over 65, and remove in total an even greater subsidy from those over 70. What I am seeking is for the Minister for Health in Victoria to intervene and to meet if necessary and engage with her federal colleague to ensure that this is reversed. She could even raise this at a health ministers conference, for example.

This will have a very important and significant impact on the health system in Victoria. We have already got waiting lists that have surged upwards, and we have heard questions by Ms Crozier in this chamber to the Minister for Health about when the waiting list figures will come out. I know when I left office the last waiting list figure in Victoria was just over 38,000. It is more than 69,000 on the last figures released, and I can only imagine that if the minister here is refusing to release the recent figures, they must be much, much worse. But at the least they are nearly twice the size of what they were in 2014, after 12 years of Labor – tens of thousands more Victorians on the waiting list. If these private health insurance supports are kicked away, torn away by the Albanese Labor government, leaving older Victorians high and dry, leaving Victorians without the support they need, this will weaken our health system further. It will mean older Victorians do not get the choices they need, and they will be – (Time expired)