MEDIA STATEMENT
15 October 2026
Less than 24 hours after the Senate blocked Labor’s private health insurance rebate cuts, Health Minister Mark Butler has marched straight back into the House of Representatives and reintroduced the very same legislation.
And Labor has once again used its numbers in the House of Representatives to press ahead with these cuts.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 38 to 23 to block the legislation. Today, Labor is pushing ahead with a proposal that could leave some older couples paying up to $1,614 more every year for private health insurance.
How many times do Australians have to say NO before this Government finally listens?
Nearly 12,000 Australians have signed my petition. The Senate has blocked the legislation. Yet Labor is determined to push ahead.
And when does Labor want these cuts to take effect? 1 April 2027.
As Melissa McIntosh rightly pointed out, that falls on April Fools’ Day. The date says it all. This has to be a joke.
To add insult to injury, Minister Butler has dismissed the Senate’s decision as a “political stunt”.
A political stunt? You’ve got to be kidding, Minister.
I have one question for Mark Butler: which part of nearly 1.3 million Australians opposing your legislation is a political stunt?
Is it the pensioners struggling to pay their bills? The self-funded retirees worried about maintaining their private health insurance? Or the 12,000 Australians who have taken the time to sign my petition?
These are real Australians with real concerns about real costs.
For months, I have fought this $3 billion tax grab on older Australians, which could leave more than three million pensioners and retirees facing higher private health insurance premiums.
In September, I took my petition into Parliament. Three times I tried to have those signatures tabled. Three times Labor refused, and this Government continues to disregard their concerns.
And today, while Minister Butler was once again dismissing opposition to these cuts as a political stunt, I was ordered to leave the House of Representatives under Standing Order 94(a) after repeatedly interjecting during his speech.
I make no apology for standing up for the pensioners and retirees who have asked me to fight these cuts. The Government can have me removed from the Chamber, but it cannot silence the 1.3 million Australians who will be impacted by these cuts.
This Government is TONE DEAF and showing a complete disregard for the concerns of older Australians.
The Minister says these cuts are about fairness. I say there’s nothing fair about making pensioners and retirees pay hundreds, potentially thousands, of dollars more each year while they’re already struggling with the cost of living.
Labor doesn’t listen until it’s forced to, doesn’t act until it’s embarrassed, and doesn’t take responsibility until it runs out of excuses.
Yesterday, the Senate delivered a clear message. Today, Labor has demonstrated just how little regard it has for the voices of everyday Australians.
If this Government won’t listen to the electorate, the Coalition will.
And if Minister Butler thinks dismissing legitimate community concerns as political games will make us back down, he is sorely mistaken.
We will fight this legislation every single step of the way.
We will not back down, we will not give up, and we will not rest until Labor’s private health insurance rebate cuts are DEAD.
D-E-A-D.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
