Mr ZAHRA —I would like to make a statement in relation to my being misrepresented. I sought leave yesterday to make some remarks but I am very keen to get them into the record, so I will use this opportunity.

In a media release dated 30 June—which, as I said yesterday, is amazing considering that today is 29 June—the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Liberal Senator Judith Troeth, said the following in relation to lifetime health cover:

The statement implies that I have recently taken out private health insurance in response to the government's policies and the taxpayer funded advertising campaign they have run in relation to this issue. This is not true and I can demonstrate this easily.

Firstly, my statement to the Registrar of Members Interests records publicly that I took out private health insurance last year, whereas the government's `Run for Cover' advertisements started only in April this year. Secondly—and anyone who can read, watch television or listen to the radio could have told Senator Troeth this—because I am 27 years old, I do not have to make a decision in relation to taking up lifetime health cover until I am 31. This makes a mockery of Senator Troeth's suggestion that I have somehow sought to benefit from the government's lifetime health cover policies.

My family and I have long been associated with the Yallourn Medical and Hospital Society, which is a community-run, not-for-profit health fund that has operated in the Latrobe Valley for more than 70 years. Last year I joined Yallourn Medical not because of the government's ham-fisted, bullying advertising campaign but because I wanted to show my support for a widely respected, not-for-profit health group which does good work in my electorate.

I have spoken to the CEO of Yallourn Medical and he has told me that he is aghast that information relating to my support for his health fund has been used to score cheap political points. Maybe next time Senator Troeth will get someone with two or more brain cells to explain to her her own government's policy before she issues public statements impugning my reputation and attributing motives to my actions which are demonstrably untrue. Senator Troeth should be ashamed of herself.