Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Treasurer. I ask the Assistant Treasurer: what commitment did the Prime Minister give, or the Assistant Treasurer, give to the Greens party to secure their support for changes to the pension? I also ask: did this commitment by the government include a comprehensive review that considers all of the components of the retirement income system, including tax and superannuation? Further to that: the coalition has cut the pension by $2.4 billion, which will see single pensioners lose more than $8,000 a year and will see 325,000 retirees lose some or all of their pension in 2017, and yet the Prime Minister has said, as recently as yesterday, that the coalition has no plans, not now or ever, to make any changes to superannuation. Why is it that this government is quite happy to take money from pensioners who have planned carefully for their retirement while making no changes for wealthy Australians with significant accumulated superannuation savings?

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