Hume said on Monday “you can take my word for it”,and Ley claimed “we have made it clear” that insurance companies were not to be broken up,which Taylor reinforced on Tuesday before backtracking and suggesting divestiture was an option.
Despite their remarks,Dutton resurrected the threat on Tuesday,saying:“We will divest if that is what is required to get competition into the marketplace.”
On Wednesday morning,the talking points sent to shadow ministers removed a sentence that said insurance “does not form part” of the divestiture policy.
“The Coalition has been clear that we will introduce divestiture powers for supermarkets and hardware sectors,building on our record of introducing divestiture powers for the energy sector,” the talking points said.
Senior Liberals sources said that as leader,Dutton had the authority to air an idea even if it had not been approved by shadow cabinet and was not fully formed. But they blamed Dutton’s office for not amending the talking points sooner to reflect the threat Dutton had made in February.
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The sources said Ley,Taylor and Hume relied on the talking points in their remarks over recent days ruling out divestiture,a policy that has proven contentious in Australia but which exists in the US and Britain.
“The process failure here was in the leader’s office – it was not on Peter or his senior colleagues like Angus,Sussan or Jane,” said a senior Liberal.
“There is no inconsistency between Peter and his colleagues – the inconsistency is between Peter and his office.”
Dutton’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Adding to the confusion,National Party senator Matt Canavan on Wednesday suggested the junior Coalition partyfavoured economy-wide divestiture powers.
Divestiture laws are opposed by big business,which is traditionally friendly with the Coalition. Breaking up insurers would also be contentious among some Liberal MPs who value the role of private insurance taking some of the burden for treating Australians’ health conditions and dealing with natural disasters.
The Coalition was similarly at odds over a proposal to break up airlines in September. Some shadow ministers also saw anannouncement last week to force public servants to work fromthe office as poorly executed because it prompted some voters to mistakenly think the Coalition wanted to ban flexible work.
The fumbles occurred at a key moment before an election to be held on or before May 17,and as Coalition staffers tested out the operations in the opposition’s Parramatta campaign office.
Insurance costs have risen 35 per cent since the middle of 2022,making them a key issue before an election in whichAustralians see the cost of living as a priority.
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According tothis masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor,the Coalition has a 12-point advantage on Labor when voters are asked which party would be better at keeping prices down.
Dutton prefaced his remarks on Wednesday by stating his divestiture proposal would be “very clearly” reserved for a situation where there was a concentration of power in the insurance industry leading to “astronomical” premiums.
“I have looked at what they have said,and I think there is a consistency there as well,” he said of his colleagues’ comments.
“I am a strong supporter of the free market. I know and understand how the economy works,but as a Liberal,I am not interested in managing the economy for that as an end in itself,” he said.