Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I updated the House on the opposition’s ever-evolving response, and I am pleased to hear the opposition. They might have some further ideas from the ones that we have heard so far. Last week I indicated a number of positions we had already heard from the opposition about this very important issue of pension levels. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition had nothing to say about this in his budget reply, even though at the same time we had the opposition spokesperson on ageing out there saying that she did support an increase in the level of the pension.

The shadow Treasurer, of course, made it absolutely plain—absolutely crystal clear—on the radio that the opposition had no such policy. This is the shadow Treasurer’s view:

We have not got a policy to raise the base rate of the pension.

Of course, that did not stop the Gippsland Nationals candidate from misleading pensioners and pretending that the coalition would in fact raise pension levels, in a heartless attempt to mislead voters in that by-election. You would think that the Nationals leader might have got out there, like the shadow Treasurer, and tried to correct the record. But, no, the Nationals leader did not do anything of the kind. At least the shadow Treasurer had the courage to get out there and say what the true policy is. But not the Nationals leader; he was out there yesterday on ABC television fuelling the misrepresentation. This is what he had to say on ABC television yesterday:

Now we expect our candidates and our members to be proposing new ideas and he’s made it clear that he will be bringing that idea to Canberra.

Jim Middleton from the ABC asked:

But is it an idea, or a policy?

Mr Truss answered:

Well he’s indicated that’s a priority for him in Gippsland ...

The Nationals leader does not have the bottle to actually front up and tell the people of Gippsland that the coalition policy—the Nationals policy and the Liberal policy—is in fact to not increase the pension. So what the people of Gippsland want to know is the truth. What the people of Gippsland want to know is whether this is coalition policy or not. What we know from the shadow Treasurer is that it is not their policy. It is not the policy, and the Nationals leader should have the courage, should have the bottle, to get out there and tell the truth.

Unlike the opposition, this government is paying the bonuses, is increasing the utilities allowance and is making sure that pensioners and carers actually get the increased support that they need.

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