Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Earlier this afternoon, a censure motion was moved against the Prime Minister and the Australian government. That censure motion was moved because on this side of the House we do not have confidence that the government and the Prime Minister in particular understand the importance of building a strong economy so you can actually assist the weak, the sick, the unfortunate and, in this case, especially carers, the elderly and the frail. You do not attack the vulnerable to make a strong economy. In fact, if the government really wants to pick on someone its own size, it should go no further than the state governments, which at the moment have in excess of $40 billion of debt—which is headed over the next three years to more than $80 billion. Instead of that, the government and the Prime Minister in particular, as the chairman of the so-called razor gang, have chosen to use Australia’s carers and the vulnerable as human shields in their campaign against inflationary pressures.

I ask: is this government so obsessed with media management and bread and circuses that it has become blind to what, in the end, is the real purpose of government? Has it become so deaf to the pleas of anguished despair coming from this nation’s most vulnerable that it simply cannot say with certainty that these lump sum cash payments to them are guaranteed? Why is it so hard for the Prime Minister, given every opportunity through questions and through a censure motion, to stand at the dispatch box and say not only or so much to this House but, more importantly, to the 400,000 carers that are behind this and those Australians above the age of 65 and the elderly, especially, that are so reliant on that cash payment of $500, that they will receive the payments of $1,600 and $500? Why is the Prime Minister—and the government—not able nor man enough to actually guarantee them that they will receive a lump sum payment? Instead of that we have had these mealy-mouthed words: ‘They won’t be worse off. They won’t be a cent worse off.’

We on this side—and I, as a former cabinet minister for six years—know only too well that, as you go through the budget process, there is debate. There is debate about the defence budget, about the health budget, about the education budget, about roads—there is a whole debate about those things. But I say to the Prime Minister: when he gets back to the Lodge tonight, he should ask one of his staff to get for him a recording of his contribution in the censure motion on this issue of carers and seniors. He needs to sit down in a quiet place and actually have a look at himself and listen to what he was saying. He sounds more like—and increasingly looks like—a bureaucrat running an economy and running a public service than he does a Prime Minister, leading a group of men and women, who should be committed to building a better and more caring Australia. The one thing the Prime Minister has not got on his balance sheet is people. In the end, that is what it is all about. I go, for example, to Mary-Lou Carter. She said to the Daily Telegraph on 11 March:

If this was about symbolism, it’s a terrible thing to have to prove how tough you are by attacking the weakest in the community.

The chief executive of Carers Australia, Joan Hughes, said to Channel 7 on 8 March:

I don’t get why they would be picking on some of the most vulnerable people, who are really struggling to survive. It’s a real kick in the face for many family carers.

There is Mr Ashley Norman, a 73-year-old man in Mackay who is dying, cared for by his wife of 52 years, Pat. He said to the Australian on 7 March:

My wife gets $100 a fortnight to look after me.

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She’s got to do everything I did, everything she did and care for me like a baby.

What he’s (Kevin Rudd) doing is criminal. To take $1600 off us after giving it to us every year for four years, it’s criminal.

He also said of the Prime Minister, on the ABC program Lateline on 10 March: ‘He is an absolute Jekyll and Hyde. Prior to the election, for God’s sake, everyone thought he was a wonderful man. Since he’s been elected, he’s turned into an absolute ogre.’

There are Pam and Wal Beckhouse, whose 37-year-old son John is autistic and profoundly deaf. Pam said this to Channel 10 on 7 March:

I just can’t believe that a Labor government would do that. The carers have given up a lot to do that caring, and they don’t deserve to be treated like rubbish.

Wal said:

There’s a lot of cranky people out there.

That is an understatement. There are a lot of cranky people out there, but they are more than cranky. These are desperate people who live quiet lives of desperation trying to look after people whom they love and, in the process, saving this country an enormous amount of money in the effort that they make for those they love and for whom they care.

I say to the Prime Minister, after more than three months as the Prime Minister of Australia: whatever you do, Prime Minister, remember, in the end, it is about building a better society; it is about building a more caring society; it is about reaching out to people who feel they have neither power nor a voice in this country and making absolutely certain that decisions are made with them foremost in mind. Whatever the bureaucrats have told you and whatever you tell yourself as a former bureaucrat, the most important thing the Prime Minister needs to do at the moment is to reassure these 400,000 carers and to reassure pensioners, seniors, elderly and frail that they will receive the lump sum cash payment in this year’s budget.

Whilst, Prime Minister, as a bureaucrat being driven by a bunch of bureaucrats, you sound like a man dealing with a balance sheet rather than a man who is actually grappling with day-to-day human struggles and desperate concern to look after others in greater need than yourself, just remember that in the end, in addition to income and expenditure, the government’s balance sheet must always include people. This is about human beings. This is about dignity of human life. As far as we on this side are concerned, and on behalf of the 400,000 carers, the seniors, the elderly and the frail in this country, we say to you, Prime Minister: be honest and open with them and guarantee them that they will receive their lump sum payment. In doing so, whatever the niceties of the bureaucrats and the balance sheets, that will give more comfort and certainty for these people—some of whom will not even live until the budget—as to how they will be able to manage their finances in the year ahead.

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