Aus Insurance Crisis Vindicates ACC Restoration

Australian Insurance Crisis Vindicates ACC Restoration

“As their Australian counterparts face premium increases of up to 700%, small business in New Zealand can be thankful for the ACC reforms which saved them from similar premium hikes for workplace accident insurance,” Council of Trade Unions president and former Deputy Chair of ACC Ross Wilson said today.

Ross Wilson was commenting on the call by Australian Small Business Minister, Joe Hockley, for Australia to reject their private insurance scheme and consider a national accident compensation scheme like New Zealand’s.

“In the past year we have seen one of the large Australian private insurers, HIH, which led the campaign for privatisation of our ACC collapse amidst allegations of mismanagement and fraud, and now we see Australian premiums increasing several hundred percent,” Ross Wilson said

“Our Aussie cousins don’t often acknowledge that we are doing something better but it is not surprising that they are looking in wonder at ACC which is delivering more compensation for a fraction of the Australian private insurance premiums.”

Ross Wilson said our small businesses should be relieved ACC has been restored.

“From a worker’s point of view ACC is far from perfect but business leaders should at least acknowledge that it is cheap compared with what they would be paying the Australian insurance companies who controlled the New Zealand market under the 1998 reforms”.

Ends

© Scoop Media