Mr NEVILLE (3:09 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Minister, would you update the House with the latest information showing the number of Australians with private health insurance.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE (Minister for Health and Aged Care) —I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest. Earlier today PHIAC released the figures for the September quarter and revised their figures for the June quarter. Previously they had advised that in the June quarter 41.2 per cent of Australians were covered by private health insurance. In fact, the health funds had not been able to process the claims. They now say the figure for the June quarter was 43 per cent of Australians. This morning they have said that 45.8 per cent of Australians are now covered by private health insurance. This means that 8.8 million Australians are now enjoying the benefits of private health cover. Since December 1998, over 3.1 million Australians have joined private health cover. During the two-week extension in July for Lifetime Health Cover, over half a million Australians took advantage of the extension and joined private health funds. This is an incredible result. The increase since December 1998 is more than the total decline in the nine years under Labor, which had an ideologically driven health policy to let the private sector wither on the vine, without regard for the fact that our entire system was built on a balance between public and private. The member for Hinkler would be interested to know that in his own electorate around 48 per cent of people are now covered by private health insurance. This goes up to as high as 67 per cent for the electorate of the member for Sydney.

We did what we have done with private health insurance for two very specific reasons. The first is to give Australians choice. Australians value choice very much. Choice was eroded because private health insurance became unaffordable—the 30 per cent rebate has fixed that—and because people were taking a short-term view, which Lifetime Health Cover has fixed. The second thing we hoped to do was to, in the words of Bob Carr or Peter Beattie or Graham Richardson—all of whom have had to run health systems—restore some balance between the two sys-tems. We now estimate that, when the pre-existing ailment rules expire, 550,000 extra Australians will be able to access treat-ment in the private sector, although some of that will be as private patients in public hospitals. This will take pressure off the pub-lic hospital system in a way that was always intended when Medicare was originally designed. This gives us great reason for optimism.

The government has further decided that, in spite of the fact that we would be entitled to claw back $1 billion from the states under the Australian health care agreements, we will not be clawing back this money. The states will be able to keep the full benefit of that. They will also keep the increased revenue coming from private patients in public hospitals. This revenue has been in decline for the best part of a decade. In the September quarter we are seeing the very first indications that it has flattened out, reversing a long-term trend, and it looks as though it will be increasing. So this is a new source of funds for public hospitals. It takes some pressure off public hospitals in the medium term, it is a long-term solution and it is very good news for Medicare.

So we now have a safe, secure and healthy private health sector working alongside a public sector that can look forward to some prospect of having pressure taken off it—

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Jagajaga is warned.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE —and the only risk to this is an ideologically driven Labor Party that does not want to see balance and choice in health care.