Mrs HICKEY - 1998-11-25
Yesterday, in the context of the privatisation of hospitals debate, the minister claimed that 40% of Territorians have private health insurance. This figure is wrong. Only 23% of Territorians have hospital private health insurance. 77% of Territorians do not take out hospital private health insurance, because they simply cannot afford it.
A key plan in your privatisation agenda is to get Territorians to pay more for their health services by forcing them to take out expensive private health insurance. Minister, where will the 77% of Territory families find an extra $1200 per year to pay for hospital private health insurance?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if the opposition took the time to listen to the comments I have made throughout this debate, one of the interesting things we have done in this regard is that, for the first time, we have separated the Aboriginal health issues and their access to hospitals and the services they require, from the non-Aboriginal issues. When we consider the issue of private health insurance, for too long in the Northern Territory private health insurance has been seen in terms of the total number of Territorians. When I made the comment that up to 40% of non-Aboriginal Territorians hold private health insurance, that is a fact. That is a fact according to the analysis that has been given to me. When the Leader of the Opposition presents figures of about 23%, that may be correct in terms of the total number of Territorians, but when we look at non-Aboriginal Territorians...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, this is the opposition who didn’t even know the difference between the funding that comes through the health care agreement and how that is quite different to any monies that come from private insurance or medical benefits funds, which shows the extent of their ignorance.
But it is a very important point that, on the analysis that we’ve done, towards 40% of Territorians who are non-Aboriginal – that is something like 51 000 Territorians – carry private health insurance and have almost no ability to access the facilities they are paying for. Part of these initiatives is to give them a greater choice. Those, including Aboriginal Territorians, who do not carry private health insurance, are extremely important considerations in this whole exercise. One of the initiatives I am hoping to achieve is that we can get better design in our facilities to cater to the cultural needs of Aboriginal Territorians...
Mr Stirling: That is apartheid.
Mr BURKE: You are still locked into the ideological mindset of the first international, in the 19th Century. You should go back and re-read the works of Marx and Engels, because that is about as far as you have progressed over the years.
Madam Speaker, for all those Territorians – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal - who do not carry private health insurance, their right to free hospital access is absolutely preserved, and will be preserved throughout this process. It will not only be preserved by the intention of government, it will be preserved by the contracts that are struck and, more than anything else, it is preserved through the health funding agreement, whereby the Medicare principles of free access to any one who enters a public hospital, whether they have private health insurance or not, is absolutely preserved under those principles.
A key plan in your privatisation agenda is to get Territorians to pay more for their health services by forcing them to take out expensive private health insurance. Minister, where will the 77% of Territory families find an extra $1200 per year to pay for hospital private health insurance?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if the opposition took the time to listen to the comments I have made throughout this debate, one of the interesting things we have done in this regard is that, for the first time, we have separated the Aboriginal health issues and their access to hospitals and the services they require, from the non-Aboriginal issues. When we consider the issue of private health insurance, for too long in the Northern Territory private health insurance has been seen in terms of the total number of Territorians. When I made the comment that up to 40% of non-Aboriginal Territorians hold private health insurance, that is a fact. That is a fact according to the analysis that has been given to me. When the Leader of the Opposition presents figures of about 23%, that may be correct in terms of the total number of Territorians, but when we look at non-Aboriginal Territorians...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, this is the opposition who didn’t even know the difference between the funding that comes through the health care agreement and how that is quite different to any monies that come from private insurance or medical benefits funds, which shows the extent of their ignorance.
But it is a very important point that, on the analysis that we’ve done, towards 40% of Territorians who are non-Aboriginal – that is something like 51 000 Territorians – carry private health insurance and have almost no ability to access the facilities they are paying for. Part of these initiatives is to give them a greater choice. Those, including Aboriginal Territorians, who do not carry private health insurance, are extremely important considerations in this whole exercise. One of the initiatives I am hoping to achieve is that we can get better design in our facilities to cater to the cultural needs of Aboriginal Territorians...
Mr Stirling: That is apartheid.
Mr BURKE: You are still locked into the ideological mindset of the first international, in the 19th Century. You should go back and re-read the works of Marx and Engels, because that is about as far as you have progressed over the years.
Madam Speaker, for all those Territorians – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal - who do not carry private health insurance, their right to free hospital access is absolutely preserved, and will be preserved throughout this process. It will not only be preserved by the intention of government, it will be preserved by the contracts that are struck and, more than anything else, it is preserved through the health funding agreement, whereby the Medicare principles of free access to any one who enters a public hospital, whether they have private health insurance or not, is absolutely preserved under those principles.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016