Mr LEE —My question is again to the Minister for Health and Family Services. Minister, I remind you again of your statement on the AM program, when you said:

The average increase for MBF is 6.5 per cent.

I also remind you of your quote from the MBF press release in which you claimed that it said that the rise in contribution rates was 6.5 per cent across the fund's membership overall. Minister, do you agree that the full quote from the MBF press release is as follows:

. . . the anticipated effect of the changes, with the expected movement of members into and up the excess packages, is a rise in contribution rates of 6.5 per cent across the Fund's membership overall.

Minister, will you now concede that you have misled the listeners of the AM program and misled this House because you have assumed that 300,000 contributors will take up excess packages? Will you now concede that 75 per cent of MBF's contributors who do not have excess packages will face 15 per cent increases?

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —I have assumed nothing. I have just assumed what MBF have assumed. They are the ones that have made the assumption. What the Labor Party cannot cope with is that the press release also says that in many cases people will have the cost of their cover reduced. The cost of people's cover may actually go down. That is because we have actively encouraged a range of new products.

Mr Lee —You have selectively quoted and you have misled the House.

Mr SPEAKER —Order! The member for Dobell has asked his question.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —We have allowed greater flexibility in products to give people greater choice because we do not have the hang-ups that you have with private health insurance. And this is good news for the Australian public.

The real hypocrisy of all of this, the gross hypocrisy of all of this, is that you sat on your hands for 13 years and did nothing. You sat on your hands for 13 years and whacked costs onto private health insurance premiums. You made the premiums 39 per cent higher than they needed to be. You did not in any way modify a single application in 13 years.

Mr Lee —But you have misled the House.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —I have at least gone in there and tried to get a better deal for Australian fund contributors. The increase across all funds in the last few months has been an average of six per cent—March to April, it was six per cent. You had an average of 12 per cent a year when you were in office and nothing will hide your failure, nothing will hide your inactivity, and you will wear it day after day.

Mr LEE —Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. I note the minister's claim that he has made no assumptions—and that is on the record, thank you. I ask the minister: will he now concede that 75 per cent of MBF's contributors—those poor families that you mentioned before—who don't have excess packages will face increases of 15 per cent?

Mr SPEAKER —I will allow the supplementary question.

Mr Reith —Oh, no. Mr Speaker, on a point of order: that should not be allowed. It is not elucidating an answer; it is simply repeating the question. On that basis, it should be ruled out of order.

Mr SPEAKER —I have listened to the point of order. There is no point of order. I invite the Minister for Health and Family Services to add to his answer.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —Off the top of my head, I don't know whether that figure is right but I probably should have checked it—

Mr Bevis —Well, why didn't you check?

Mr Lee —You should have.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —Because the shadow minister was using it this morning and, if it is as shonky as a lot of the other figures he uses, it is probably wrong. The fact is that the average increase will be as MBF said. I have read it across out of their press release.

Mr Lee —But you should know. You approved it.

Mr SPEAKER —Order! The member for Dobell has had two bites of the cherry.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —If some people have the opportunity through new products to actually have lower premiums that is good news. But, yes, I do admit I cannot tell you off the top of my head what the membership structure of one of Australia's 47 health funds is—

Mr Beazley —So you don't know. Is this the detailed consideration you gave it?

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —Quite frankly, you probably didn't even know health funds existed until nine months ago.