Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the case of Mrs Pat Stafford, who has motor neurone disease and who says that the carer’s bonus enables her and her husband to keep their 25-year-old car on the road. Is the Prime Minister aware that her husband, Henry, thinks that without the lump sum payment Pat would end up in an institution? Is the Prime Minister aware that over the weekend Pat Stafford said, ‘John Howard was the quiet achiever but Kevin Rudd has turned out to be the quiet deceiver’? In the light of his failure to guarantee that carer’s lump sum payments will be paid, will the Prime Minister have the decency to apologise to Pat and Henry Stafford and the 400,000 carers who feel betrayed?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In response to the honourable member’s question, I would say to Mr and Mrs Stafford that when it comes to the upcoming budget they will not be a dollar worse off when it comes to their bonus payments—and that is our guarantee. The reason it is our guarantee is that these are among the most vulnerable Australians and, therefore, they need to have an assurance from the government and from the parliament that their payments are in order. It is not exactly the assurance that they had from the previous government in its election commitments on this matter. The previous government’s policy, contained in the ‘Coalition government policy: Election 2007’, on this very question says:

If re-elected, the coalition will consider continuing to pay these bonuses—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

wait for it: comma—

depending on the economic circumstances at the time.

I take it that that equals a rock solid commitment from those opposite! Carers have from this government a guarantee that, when it comes to their bonuses, they will not be a dollar worse off. I stand by that commitment, and this underlines the hypocrisy of those who sit opposite.