Mr LEE(5.10 p.m.) —I would like to advise the House that the opposition joins with the government in working to provide a speedy passage for this particular piece of legislation—that is, the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Amendment Bill. As the Minister for Family Services (Mrs Moylan) indicated in her second reading speech, the original legislation was passed with the bipartisan support of the then Labor government and the coalition opposition.

During a particularly vigorous exchange in question time earlier this year, the Minister for Health and Family Services (Dr Wooldridge) quite unfairly tried to suggest that in some way the former government was culpable for the delays in the Health Insurance Commission's processing of some of these requests for the release of compensation payments. Given that vigorous exchange earlier this year, I am pleased that the Minister for Family Services said in her second reading speech:

The act came into effect from 1 February 1996, but no-one could foresee the difficulties and individual hardships which have subsequently emerged.

I think the Minister for Family Services has described this in a much more balanced way than her senior minister, the minister for health. Nevertheless, both sides of politics understand that delays have emerged. Those delays are hurting people who have received compensation payments. I am pleased to welcome the government as it has introduced this legislation in a pretty speedy manner.

Some of you with long memories might remember that there is another bill on the Notice Paper with exactly the same name—the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Amendment Bill 1996—that was introduced as a private member's bill by me on 24 June. I am not quite sure that it will have much of a life once this legislation is passed. I have no regrets about that because that bill was introduced with the intention of prodding the government and trying to ensure that the parliament acted as speedily as possible in addressing these delays.

As the Minister for Family Services has said, these delays have caused hardship. She mentioned a number of cases that demonstrate quite clearly why the parliament needed to act very quickly on this measure. In her second reading speech, she also mentioned that under the current arrangements:

The most desperate cases are being identified as much as possible and fast-tracked.

I have to say that, in the several cases that affect constituents in the electorate of Dobell, it has not been possible to have them taken out of the order in which they are received and fast-tracked. I am not sure whether other members of parliament have had cases that were worthy of having a consideration fast-tracked but, if it is the case that some claims are being taken out to be fast-tracked because of hardship circumstances, I can let the minister's office know that there are one or two that I am aware of that, if they have not been sorted out to date, are really compassionate cases worthy of consideration.

That being the case, the crucial difference between my private member's bill and the legislation which the government has introduced is that my private member's bill sought to simply freeze the total amount of Medicare benefits that are being paid to the individual concerned. The government also seeks to release the overwhelming majority of the compensation payment, but it does it in a different way. The government simply seeks to retain 10 per cent of the compensation sum and release 90 per cent. I think that is an acceptable way to ensure that we are addressing this problem, and one which the opposition will not be seeking to delay, oppose or amend.

The fact that the opposition has sought to ensure that this legislation has one of the speediest passages ever seen in the Australian parliament is a fair sign of our good faith on this measure. There aren't too many pieces of legislation that are introduced in the Senate in the morning and passed by the House of Representatives before the House rises. On legislation like this it is understandable and, as I say, that demonstrates our good faith. I am pleased that the suffering, which we believe the current legislation is causing, will be addressed by the legislation which is now before the House.