Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

This is not the first occasion in the Senate or, indeed, in the House of Representatives where we have been debating the removal of discrimination as it applies to superannuation provisions in regard to same-sex couples. It is not the first time and, Senator Murray, I have forgotten how many times we have spoken on this matter in the Senate. The Australian Democrats—and sometimes the Greens, I have to acknowledge—and the Labor Party invariably move amendments time and time again, either in committee or in a second reading debate, that the government remove the discrimination in respect to superannuation provisions as they apply to same-sex couples.

Senator Murray rightly identified a moral failing on the part of the government, but it is actually a double moral failing, because I was here in this Senate chamber about four years ago—Senator Murray would recall—when Senator Cherry, as the superannuation spokesperson for the Australian Democrats, received a written commitment from the Prime Minister to remove the discrimination in respect of same-sex couples. A written communication was tabled here in the Senate chamber. It was on the superannuation choice legislation. I am sure Senator Murray would recall this.

So we have a double moral failure. We had the Prime Minister of this country—typical tricky Mr Howard at his tricky best, or worst, frankly—some four years ago giving a written letter of commitment to the Senate chamber to remove the discrimination in respect to same-sex couples and superannuation. That was four years ago. And where are we today? It still has not happened. We have a very tricky Prime Minister—who is short-term and who wants a bit of legislation, in that case on superannuation choice, passed—and he gave a written commitment. I think we had Senator Coonan, who was the Assistant Treasurer at the time, brandishing this letter from the Prime Minister.