Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

The senator wants to come in here and talk about hardworking Australians. Well, 3.6 million low-income earners: I reckon they are hardworking Australians and I think they deserve the tax break that the government is putting in place. But the senator wants to wind that back, should he get into government. What the senator says is: 'No, we don't think low-income Australians deserve equivalent tax treatment on their super. We don't think 3.6 million Australians should get this tax break on their super. We don't think the 2.1 million women who will get this tax break deserve it. We want to wind it back. But, Senator Wong, you should tell us about fairness.' Well, really, Senator Cormann: if you want to talk about fairness, I am very happy to talk about fairness. If you want to talk about superannuation, I am happy to talk about superannuation and our record in it. But the problem is that all of a sudden the opponents of superannuation for workers have become the great defenders of superannuation, and the hypocrisy is there for all to see.