Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After reading the government's retirement income review I think the Treasurer needs to do himself a favour and go and watch the Australian classic, The Castle. Maybe then he'd understand the difference between a house and a home. Maybe then he'd stop scaring the pants off retirees by suggesting they sell off the family home, bit by bit, to pay for their retirement. Maybe then he'd drop his pay-as-you-die home-stealer scheme. To paraphrase Dennis Denuto in that classic, the Treasurer has got the vibe all wrong. Australians are simply not going to stand by and cop having their homes sacrificed on this government's war against workers' superannuation. They work their guts out to pay off their mortgages so they can retire with security and comfort. They expect to spend their retirement enjoying quality family time. They don't expect to be forced back into debt which grows and grows and grows. Let's just remind ourselves why the Treasurer is even floating this idea. Twice now the Liberals have frozen superannuation contributions, costing the average worker $100,000 in retirement income. Now they want to freeze it again. It's a diabolical plan. They'll cut your super, freeze the pension and make you sell your house if you run out of money. We won't cop it. We won't stand it, and neither will the retirees of Australia.