Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

During his excellent contribution, my friend, the hardworking member for Aston, expressed surprise at today's motion from the member for Jagajaga—which I can tell him actually continues the scare campaign that she had led since last year's budget. She has led a veritable conga line of those on the other side to my home state of Tasmania. These scare merchants have visited my state to misrepresent government policy and scare vulnerable people about their pensions. I can recall the member for Jagajaga visiting last May, where she said that pensioner concessions would be cut. Yet the Premier of Tasmania had made clear that the Commonwealth contribution to those concessions was only relatively minor and that the state would be filling that gap and there were in fact no changes to pensioner concessions. That was an entirely false claim by the member for Jagajaga.

The member for Jagajaga also claimed that pensions would be cut from 1 July, knowing that was untrue and that her comments would cause anxiety to vulnerable people. I note the member for Gorton visited Tasmania a few weeks after the member for Jagajaga and replicated the exact same Pinocchio act. He had the audacity to complain about the high youth unemployment rate in Tasmania, but he forgot to mention that unemployment in Tasmania—both adult and youth—rose to the highest in the country under Labor-Green governments in Hobart and Canberra. I note he does not have very much to say today when the unemployment rate in Tasmania is at a three-year low after only a very short period of time of coalition government in Canberra and Liberal government in Tasmania. The member for Jagajaga and the member for Gorton and their Labor-Green mates are frankly all scare and no solution. They are in denial and fail to acknowledge the extraordinary economic damage they left behind—and they now stand in the way of our efforts to clean up that mess.

It is little wonder to me that the ABC's Fact Check found the member for Jagajaga's mendacious claims about the age pension 'unfounded'. What that means is: without foundation; untrue. What the member for Jagajaga, the member for Gorton and their Labor mates conveniently forgot is that they were senior members of the Labor-Green government. They were at the heart of those appalling Labor-Green decisions that now impose a billion dollars every month in borrowings just to pay the interest on their debt. They are the ones on that side of the House responsible for the fact that we borrow $100 million every day in this country just to pay the bills. Think about the opportunity costs!

Ms Butler interjecting—

I note that Mr Rudd's replacement over there—still out of her seat and still interjecting—does not think about the enormous opportunity cost of that $100 million every day we borrow more than we earn: new roads, two new schools a day, a new teaching hospital every week. If only we did not have to pay those opportunity costs.

What rampant hypocrisy when it comes to pensions! The member for Lilley, when he was the Labor Treasurer, announced in the 2009 budget that to make the pension sustainable Labor would change the pension. Mr Swan referred to the need for 'major structural savings to support the longer term sustainability of our pension system'. A joint media release was issued by the members for Lilley and Jagajaga—the member for Jagajaga was the minister for families at the time—referring to Labor's pension changes as 'a responsible reform to meet the challenge of an ageing population and the economic impact it will have for all Australians.' What has changed? What has caused this transition to skeletons and spiders and scare tactics in Launceston and Tasmania? What has caused this transition to this abhorrent, populist nonsense?

It takes a special sort of bastardry to scare vulnerable people, but that is exactly what is happening with the mendacious claims of those opposite. Spare us your hypocrisy! Under this government pensions went up last Friday. They go up twice a year. It has gone up by over six per cent since this government was elected—up $78 for couples and over $50 for single pensioners per fortnight. They have also been able to maintain the carbon tax compensation payment at $14.10 for singles and $21.20 for couples. We got rid of the carbon tax, which those on the opposite side want to bring back. They want to continue to seize pensioners' dormant bank accounts. We on this side are the best friends that pensioners have ever had.

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