Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is true, and I would like to say to Senator Coonan that I have just been informed that there was such an agreement, but my prior point still holds firm—that the coalition have not used all the opportunities available to them through other vehicles in this chamber through the course of this week, and I think they are embarrassed by that.

All of this stands in contrast to the government’s position on pensions, which has always been clear. In opposition, Labor instituted a Senate inquiry into the cost-of-living pressures facing senior Australians, and the first recommendation of the bipartisan report of that inquiry, which was tabled in March of this year, was:

… that the Government review the suitability of the base pension levels through economic analyses of amounts required to achieve at least a modest standard of living for retired Australians, with particular consideration given to the adequacy of the percentage rate for single older people receiving the age pension compared to couples.

On budget night we acted on this bipartisan recommendation by instituting the Henry review of tax and welfare and, recognising the urgency of the pensions issue, the government asked Dr Jeff Harmer to complete this part of the Henry review and report back to the government by no later than the end of February next year. The pensions review is well underway, as we all know.

Since the Senate inquiry, there have been many calls from seniors groups, disability groups, carers groups, individuals and so forth to improve pensions and payments. I would like to contrast this enthusiasm and willingness to engage with the low morale that existed amongst pensioners, carers, recipients of disability support et cetera under the Howard government. They now have some hope that there will be action from the Labor government through this very sensible course of action that is looking at the issues in a structured and serious way and not in the way that the coalition did, which was the embodiment of a political stunt.

So I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate those advocates of our pensioners of all different types in the country and to thank them for engaging with Labor’s process. I have great confidence that, being the wise and experienced constituency that they are, they too can see through the political stunt that we are observing from the opposition this week in parliament.