Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I see that those opposite are so keen to answer questions. They should work a bit harder to come over to this side if they want to answer questions. Yesterday the Senate worked with the government to put the national interest first. Yesterday the Senate worked with the government to help build a stronger economy to create more jobs. Yesterday the Senate worked with the government in order to ensure that working families across Australia have more money in their pockets now. What we did in the Senate yesterday—and this was not our preferred course of action—was that we agreed as a government to keep the Schoolkids Bonus in place on a means tested basis until after the next election. The question is, what will Labor do? Will you keep the Schoolkids Bonus going beyond that? And how will you pay for it?

Yesterday in the Senate the government also agreed that we would keep the low-income super contribution going until 30 June 2017—after the next election. What will the Labor Party do? Will you keep it going? And how will you pay for it? We will also keep the low-income support bonus going until after the election. What will Labor do? Will you keep it going beyond that? How will you pay for it? When Mr Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition, was asked that question this morning, he said, 'We are not going to tell you what our policies are.' Mr Shorten is just playing politics. He is putting politics ahead of the national interest, which is why he has made the Labor Party completely irrelevant. The national public policy consensus is now being built between the coalition, the Palmer United Party, the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Family First Party. And of course we thank Senator Madigan from the Democratic Labor Party for supporting the course of action the government initiated in the parliament yesterday. The Labor Party cannot handle the fact that they are the opposition and that we are the government. Well, they had better get used to it.