John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the great aspects of this new career is the chance to meet inspiring people. One such person came to discuss some matters with me recently in my electorate office in Bennelong. John Spurgin is not a name renowned around the nation and yet he left me with the feeling that here is a person who is the embodiment of a great Australian.

John told me of the new career he had begun with the Australian Taxation Office some 10 years ago. Soon after, he found he was not receiving his due superannuation payments. This was soon rectified and John received all that was owed. Then, a few years later, his superannuation payments were erased again. This time there was no satisfactory result and John continued to work at the ATO but did not receive any super. In June this year John Spurgin's employment with the ATO was terminated. There was no issue of performance and his record of punctuality and attendance was admirable to the extreme. The very essence of being an Australian is having a sense of fair play—a fair go—especially for the underdog, the battler.

John Spurgin has battled against discrimination for a fair go since he began working for the ATO. John holds no bitterness for his plight of wanting to work but not being wanted. John does not belong to a racial minority. He does not face any obstacles due to gender or sexual preference. He is able-bodied, married, physically fit, intelligent, educated, hard working and has a marvellous sense of humour.

John's great failing is that he has experience—too much experience. John is now 80 years of age. He was 70 when he started his last career. The law gave the ATO the option to pay his superannuation, from the age of 70 to 75, but then made it effectively illegal for this to be paid afterwards. In March this year the member for Mackellar introduced a bill for the abolition of the age limit on the super guarantee. This was rejected by the government and three Independents, due to a disagreement on whether this constituted a supply bill. Since then the government has been silent on both this issue and its election promise to lift the guarantee to age 75. It is not good enough for us in this place to hide behind technicalities and play politics with the precious future of those in our community like John Spurgin. For the first time in our history we are facing two generations of retirees, and any way that policy can be used to maintain active employment within these generations will be to our nation's great benefit. In Australia we laud our champions. John Spurgin should be equally lauded and given an equal chance to play, judged by no other criteria than his ability to do the job. John is a great champion and a great Australian. I watch with interest the commencement of his next career and certainly hope he gets a fair go. (Time expired)

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