Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The minister says that they are against that. Actually, the member for Mayo had this to say on 25 May 2009 in this House when speaking on legislation:

It is right that the government does help Australians, particularly those at the lower end of the income scale, to switch over to digital TV.

Indeed, Senator Minchin, the mentor of the Leader of the Opposition—or one of them—had this to say in the Senate on 18 June 2009:

The coalition supports this amendment ...

For eligible households in Mildura, such as pensioners, this measure will provide some certainty about their capacity to access and utilise the equipment needed to view a digital picture.

But on Sunday when asked about the government actually doing something about it, the shadow Treasurer said, 'We wouldn't be spending so much money.' Does that sound familiar? We can go back to the comments by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. They were talking about us having a transfer agreement, but when it is actually real and happening it suddenly becomes bad and so they oppose. They are caught up in that.

One thing that I learnt growing up in a household with an invalid pensioner as a mum—one thing that was taught to me every budget day and every day of my life—is that it is only Labor that looks after pensioners and low-income earners, and we will see that again because those over there are only interested in looking after the entrenchment of privilege. Those opposite continue to oppose the sort of reform that has seen our economy looked after in the interests of all Australians. Question put:

That the motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition be agreed to.

The House divided. [15.29]

Question negatived.

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