Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has become the second senior Liberal to contradict Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over a proposal to threaten large insurance firms with divestiture.
Her comments add to confusion over the Coalition’s plan to bring down the cost of premiums, which have risen by more than 35 per cent since the 2022 federal election.
Campaigning in Western Sydney on Monday, Ms Ley told a press conference, “We do not propose divestiture with respect to insurance companies, and we’ve made that clear”.
When pressed by Sky News on whether divestiture for insurance was off the table altogether, she refused to be drawn on a “hypothetical question (on) what we might be doing in the future”.
“The policy that we’ve proposed is about supermarkets,” she said.
Mr Dutton first raised the prospect of threatening to break up insurance firms in an interview with Sky News in February. He argued it could lead to greater competition in the market and contribute to lower prices.
“As we’ve done with the supermarkets, where we have threatened divestment if consumers are being ripped off, similarly in the insurance market we will intervene to make sure consumers get a fair go,” Mr Dutton said on Sunday Agenda.
“We need depth in the insurance pool, and we need to make sure that we’re not being ripped off by insurance companies.”
Mr Dutton reaffirmed his position at a press conference on February 17, at which he said “I expect them to bring down insurance premiums significantly by the time we form a government, and if they don’t, I will deal with the industry afterwards”.
His position was contradicted less than three weeks later by shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, who told a summit last Wednesday that the Coalition’s divestiture approach would be “confined to supermarkets only”.
When pushed on whether a Coalition government would consider breaking up insurance firms, Mr Taylor replied, “No, we’ve been clear on that”.
Seeking to clarify his remarks later the same day, Mr Taylor landed somewhere in the middle.
“We expect all industries to act in a pro-competitive way and that includes the insurance industry,” he said on Wednesday afternoon.
“If we see evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, then we will take appropriate action”.
Mr Taylor did not clarify what “appropriate action” was being considered for insurance firms.
More than 3,000 claims related to ex-Cyclone Alfred have been lodged since February 28.
On Sunday, the Insurance Council of Australia declared an Insurance Catastrophe, which directs insurers to prioritise claims from customers in disaster-affected areas.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has capitalised on the Liberal Party confusion and warned the opposition risked causing higher prices for insurance.
“Everything Peter Dutton and the Liberals want to do will make insurance go up, whether it’s building standards or divestiture or backward energy policy,” he told Sky News.
“Our focus is on making sure insurers do the right thing by their customers dealing with ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
“The Albanese government has a comprehensive program of work underway to make insurance more affordable and communities safer by investing in risk reduction.”
