Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. The government continues to keep cuts to pensions as government policy and in the budget, despite repeated failed attempts to get them through the parliament. Why then can't the Treasurer also commit to keep his centrepiece $50 billion handout to big business in the budget?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the last election, the member opposite from the Labor Party who posed this question to me was running a petition, up to the very day that they supported the government's position on changes to pensions. For years, the member opposite went around the country scaring pensioners, saying to them that the Labor Party was opposed to the changes to pensions. But what did they do at the last election? After several years, at the last moment, on the eve of the election, they slunk into the press chamber and they backed the changes, just days out from the election.

Ms Macklin interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Jagajaga will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was an act of gross insult to pensioners around the country. At least the government respected older Australians by being up-front with them about the changes that we knew were necessary to bring the budget into balance. Those opposite wanted to play political games, playing with the fears and anxieties of older Australians. They said they would go in there, they would change it and they would turn it over. Once again what we saw from the Labor Party on that issue was a cruel hoax. It was a cruel hoax. They never planned to change those arrangements, not once. They went out and misrepresented their position to the Australian people. They played pensioners for fools in this country and they should be ashamed. At least the government was prepared to look the Australian people in the eye and say, 'We must get these expenditures under control.' We put those measures into the parliament. We ensured that they were able to be passed through the parliament and implemented, and on the eve of the election, like on everything else—the Schoolkids Bonus and all of these things they beat their chest over—they flipped, and they lied to the Australian people in doing so.