John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

We have enormous Commonwealth superannuation liabilities accruing, and we have put this money aside, no thanks to the Labor Party, in order to look after those liabilities. What the Labor Party intends to do is to rob the savings set aside for our children and grandchildren in order to fund a current policy proposal. I have no doubt, and the Treasurer has no doubt, that this is the first of many. This is the first instalment. I understand that at the news conference today the third question asked by journalists was: how many more policy proposals are going to be funded by raiding the Future Fund?

I say to the Labor Party: I am interested in the views of Mr Murdoch, Mr Packer, Mr Kirk and Mr Walker. I sometimes agree with them and I sometimes do not. But in the end I am more interested in the wellbeing of my children and grandchildren—and those who sit opposite are more interested in the wellbeing of their children and grandchildren—than in the views of other people, much and all as I respect the contribution that Mr Murdoch has made to this country and other countries and the contribution that James Packer and his late father have made. But in the end my obligation is to future generations, not to individuals in the current generation.

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