My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister rule out making any cuts to pensioners in this year's budget?

I thank the honourable member for her question. The budget is less than two months away. I can assure Australians, and I assure honourable members, there will be no change to the current rules that provide aged pensioners on the taper rate with a minimum payment per fortnight. The proposal that was referred to and then picked up by the opposition leader over the weekend was no more than a suggestion put forward by a department and immediately rejected by the government. There is no place for that proposal in the budget, and I can give the honourable member complete assurance on that point.