Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. The suggestion by Senator Evans in talking about the rollover and the postage and then how much people could spend in an election year is a very interesting exercise in mathematics, and I think that is part of the failure of the Labor Party in recent years. The thought process was just so obvious: Labor think that they can somehow win the election with an avalanche in the last 12 months. But, as a very wise man in the Liberal Party, Sir John Carrick, used to say: you can’t fatten the pig on market day. You have to undertake your electoral duties on a regular basis, and those who represent the larger regional seats do have a real problem in being able to get to and around their electorates and be seen at functions. Every now and then, if they are unable to make a particular function for whatever reason, rather than flying out there, they may well want to use that money to communicate with the people in a particular township, explaining why they are not there or for whatever reason.

But the Remuneration Tribunal—and I want to stress this—made this determination. That is the independent body which sets our salaries and makes a whole lot of other determinations. While Senator Brown has a reputation for opposing anything where that might provide him with a media headline and be seen as a stunt, Senator Evans, interestingly enough, really does cherry-pick the salary increases that the Labor Party are well and truly willing to take but not the Remuneration Tribunal’s determination in relation to these other entitlements.

No system we have will ever be perfect, but I submit to this chamber and to the Australian people that it is a lot better for an independent Remuneration Tribunal to make these determinations, rather than parliamentarians seeking to vote for these things for themselves. The suggestion that there be an aggregation was trialled for some time. It was welcomed by the relevant members. The Remuneration Tribunal took themselves out to these large electorates to determine whether a case had been made out, and it is quite clear that from their own personal experience—their own personal consideration of the matters and the submissions—they have come to this determination. I believe it would be a very arrogant Senate that would seek to overrule the Remuneration Tribunal’s consideration of this matter.