Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the latest economic data showing that, in the first six months of his government, the price of bread has gone up 3.2 per cent, tea and coffee have gone up 3.6 per cent, lamb has gone up 4.1 per cent, electricity has gone up 4.6 per cent, butter and margarine have gone up 7.6 per cent, gas has gone up 5.3 per cent, pharmaceuticals have gone up 12.1 per cent and petrol has gone up 14.6 per cent. In addition, rents and general living expenses have also gone up. Why won’t the Prime Minister take immediate action to help pensioners pay their increased bills?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for McPherson for her question. I would assume that the point that the honourable member is making in her question is that there is an inflation problem in Australia today that is affecting pensioners, carers and working families across the country. One of the things I would ask the honourable member to reflect on in asking that question is what is it that drives inflation a lot? What drives inflation a lot is where you have government expenditure out of control. What we had with the previous government, as of when this government took over, was annual expenditure growth running at some 5.3 per cent.

If you have government expenditure out of control, it adds to the fuels of inflation, which in turn affects the cost of living and which in turn has the effect of putting upwards pressure on interest rates—which affects all working families, including small businesses. That is why the government have a clear-cut strategy for dealing with the inflation challenge, anchored in the budget surplus that we brought down in May. The government’s objective is to make as much room as possible for the Reserve Bank to put downward pressure on interest rates. We appreciate the fact that we have had one small decrease in interest rates—the first decrease in interest rates in seven years and after 10 interest rate rises in a row on the part of those opposite.

Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I asked the Prime Minister: why won’t he assist pensioners in this country to offset the increase in their expenses?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McPherson will resume her seat. The Prime Minister will respond to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note carefully where the shadow minister’s position on the pension lies. When asked on 16 May this year:

Let me just be clear—

Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s about you.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a question put to you and I think the honourable member knows exactly what this refers to.

Let me just be clear there, the opposition—

that is, the Liberal Party—

is … endorsing an increase in the base rate of the pension.

The response from the shadow minister was:

Yes. Absolutely.

However, about an hour later—and they do not like this, and the member for Wentworth will even less so because it may interrupt other events that he has planned in the next fortnight or two—the member for Wentworth stood up and he said, ‘Well, we have not got a policy to raise the base rate of the pension.’ So the shadow minister says on radio that they are going to increase the base rate of the pension and an hour later the Shadow Treasurer says, ‘We have got no policy to raise the base rate of the pension.’

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We are asking the Prime Minister what his policy is on increasing the base rate of the pension.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The honourable member will resume his seat.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The point that I would make in response to the other part of the honourable member’s question is this: the shadow Treasurer said in a statement only a few months ago that they had no policy to increase the pension. They had 12 years to increase the base rate of the pension but failed to do so. What we find instead—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I would direct you to page 553 of Practice, which deals with the situation where a minister—in this case, the Prime Minister—does not come to the point of a question at all and engages in irrelevancies. Practice points out that you have the power to direct him to answer the question or to ask him to resume his seat. I ask that you ask him to answer the question about what he is going to do for pensioners or else ask him sit down because he cannot answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question had a long preamble and then asked about actions. The answer has gone to matters related to the preamble and it has gone to actions.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So concerned were the Liberal Party about the state of the pension that for 12 years they had an opportunity to do something about the base rate of the pension and did nothing. Furthermore, in August last year, when, as reported in the Australian newspaper, the then Minister for Families and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mr Brough, took a submission to the cabinet to increase the pension, what did the Leader of the Opposition do? What did the member for Wentworth do? He was a member of the cabinet. What did the member for Higgins—now absent and presumably preparing for tomorrow’s performance at the National Press Club—do? What did the member for Curtin do?

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: this is the second time that the government has sought to reflect adversely on the member for Higgins for his absence. He has leave today to attend a funeral.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One year ago, they had this matter before the cabinet. After 12 years in office—and therefore, I presume, a continued determination to act on the age pension—what did the member for Higgins, the member for Wentworth, the member for Bradfield and the member for Curtin have to say about it when the matter was before the cabinet one year ago? We can only assume from the actions which came from that cabinet that the answer is: nothing. What has changed in the last month or so is that a certain member of the opposition is particularly concerned about the moves against him on the question of the leadership. Let us go to the substance of the proposal by those opposite. What about the 2.2 million other Australians who depend on the pension? You put forward a proposal which goes to a group of 900,000 worthy Australians. What do you say, however, to the group of 2.2 million other Australians who are carers, widows or in receipt of the disability support pension? We have a program of reform on this. We will deal with it in the proper way, not opportunistically like those opposite.