Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You can set your watch by it, Madam Deputy Speaker. They've all got glass jaws. They like to dish it out but they don't like to hear it. We know that, if they were truly not interested in this, he'd jump up and deny that the government's got any plans, but he remains silent, just like the government.

In the electorate of Longman, where there are 23,937 people on the age pension, Rebecca Fanning, the Labor candidate, is speaking out on behalf of pensioners. In the electorate of Bowman—as if the electorate of Bowman don't have enough to deal with with their sitting member at the moment—there are 20,016 people on the age pension. Sixty-five per cent of people over 65 are on the age pension. It is disgraceful that this government has a secret plan to consider rolling out this plan across pensions across Australia. The minister hasn't denied it. The Prime Minister hasn't denied it. They have said on record that they are looking at expanding this across Australia.

This government has form when it comes to pensioners—cutting the pension in every budget. The Liberals and Nationals are obsessed about cutting the pension. They have attempted to cut the pension at every budget, every year. In 2014 they tried to cut pension indexation. In 2014 they cut $1 billion from pensioner concessions. In 2014 they axed the $900 senior supplement. In 2016 they tried to cut the pension to around 190,000 pensioners, as part of the plan to limit overseas travel. In 2016 they tried to cut the pension for 1½ million Australians, by scrapping the energy supplement for new pensioners. They have spent five years trying to increase the pension age to 70. You go and talk to those nurses who work with my mother, who is a midwife, and the people who work as teachers alongside my sister. Those women do physical, hard work, and this government wants to raise the pension to 70—time and time again.

On this side of the chamber, we're going to stand up for pensions and pensioners, because we always have. Our record speaks for itself when it comes to standing up for pensions. I am proud to be a member of the party that delivered a record increase in pensions and that delivered the pension in the first place. We know the ideological extremism of this government, who are completely obsessed with cutting pensions and cutting welfare. We on this side believe in an inclusive and tolerant society that will always look after those who need to be looked after, and that is exactly what we will do. You betcha—through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to the member for Petrie—I'm going to speak out. I'm going to stand up in this parliament and speak every day for pensioners. They helped build this country. We stand for them and we stand by their side as well.

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