Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

I have, and you might have to give me absolution on more than one occasion. The fact is that this is a sneaky, underhand change. These seniors are not only going to lose eligibility for the Commonwealth seniors health card. Because they lose eligibility for that, they will lose eligibility for subsidised drugs under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and many of them will not get bulk-billed by their doctor because many doctors use the seniors card as a criteria for bulk-billing people. And in some states they will lose eligibility for a whole range of seniors concessions because in those states the Commonwealth seniors card is one of the keys for access to these concessions.

The final major measure in this bill is to align the age of partner service pensions. The rationale is that this is what happens in the social security system so it ought to happen in the veterans system. I just want to make it very clear that it is the strong view of the coalition parties that veterans and their wives should be treated under the veterans system and not under the social security system. That is why the opposition will be strongly opposing this particular change.

As the member for Maribyrnong would no doubt interject, the former Howard government were responsible for establishing what notoriously became known as core and non-core promises. We were understandably enough pilloried up hill and down dale from 1996 about these core and non-core promises. I have to say that the 2008 equivalent of core and non-core promises is these sneaky means tests that have been introduced by the Rudd government. Unlike John Howard, the current Prime Minister is not open and up-front about these things. Labor went to the election claiming to be economic conservatives but what we have seen from the government, particularly in these sneaky, class-envy-driven means tests, is that at heart they are still socialists deep down. I move:

That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: “while not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1)

is of the opinion that the Baby Bonus should be payable at a tapered rate for incomes in excess of $150,000, being reduced in respect of higher incomes by $1,000 for every $10,000 earned; and

(2)

records its concern at the Government’s decision to impose a means test on the family tax benefit”.

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