Assistant Treasurer Senator Helen Coonan said today she was heartened to see Simon Crean had finally noticed the insurance issues confronting the Australian community.
"Yesterday Mr Crean called for a national response to the issue. If he was paying attention or talking to his State counterparts he would have noticed that one had been underway for almost six months," Senator Coonan said.
"While the problems confronting doctors, sporting associations, community groups and businesses appear to have passed Federal Labor by, the Government has been taking concrete steps to resolve the crisis.
"In March, I called together my State and Territory colleagues to establish a constructive plan of action. The agreement at that meeting and in a subsequent meeting in May has led to concrete actions across the country, tort law reform and the report from the Review of the Law of Negligence that I released yesterday.
"The Commonwealth has also introduced legislation to encourage structured settlements in place of one-off lump sums, changes to the Trade Practices Act to allow participants in risky activities to sign waivers and committed itself to legislation to protect volunteers.
"The Government has also required the ACCC to report to the Government on insurance industry pricing on a six monthly basis for the next two years and has asked the Productivity Commission to benchmark the claims handling of insurance companies against world standards.
"A third Ministerial Meeting is planned for September 27 and the panel chaired by Justice David Ipp will provide its second report at the end of this month.
"Meanwhile, Federal Labor has failed to make a single positive contribution to the debate.
"In fact, it is barely featured on their radar screen. Where have you been Mr Crean?
Senator Coonan said she would carefully consider the changes proposed by the Review of the Law of Negligence.
"These proposals are about restoring some balance to the system," Senator Coonan said.
"While we must ensure there are adequate protections for consumers, we also need to consider the consumers who take part in sporting activities, country shows, charity work or community activities.
"These consumers will miss out on activities that are vital to our way of life if there is no insurance to cover them."