Treasurer Jim Chalmers has blasted the Coalition as “a total and absolute shambles”, after two senior Liberals contradicted the Opposition Leader’s position on forced divestment of insurance firms.
On Tuesday, Peter Dutton was forced to clarify his commitment to break up large insurers, in order to improve competition.
“We will divest if that is what is required to get competition into the marketplace,” Mr Dutton said, while visiting an emergency management centre on the Gold Coast.
The Opposition Leader’s comments are consistent with an interview he gave Sky News last month, in which he revealed a Coalition government would “intervene” in the insurance market if consumers weren’t getting a “fair go”.
But since then two of his senior colleagues, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley, have suggested divestiture would be limited to supermarkets and hardware stores only.
Seeking to clear up the confusion, Mr Dutton confirmed on Tuesday that if specific criteria were met, divestment of insurers would be considered.
“If the advice to our government is that there is a concentration of power or market share vested in the big insurance companies in this country, and that concentration of market share has led to businesses and families not being able to get insurance cover, or indeed led to people paying astronomical prices for their premiums, and therefore market failure, my government will act,” he said.
Mr Dutton first raised the prospect of threatening to break up insurance firms in an interview with Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell on February 16.
“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.
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”.
On Monday morning, Sussan Ley endorsed Angus Taylor’s position.
“We do not propose divestiture with respect to insurance companies, and we’ve made that clear,” she said.
A few hours later, the opposition’s trade spokesman Kevin Hogan told Sky News divestment of insurers is an option “we should have in our arsenal”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has accused the Coalition of making policy on the run.
“These characters are making it up as they go”, he said in a statement.
“They’ve had weeks to get their story straight on insurance but still they’re hopelessly divided.
“After three years in opposition they still have no costed, coherent or credible economic policies.”
According to the Insurance Council of Australia, more than 22,000 claims related to ex-Cyclone Alfred have been lodged since February 28.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 20,665 claims have been lodged in Queensland. 1,735 have been lodged by residents in New South Wales.
