Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

After listening to that supplementary, I remind the opposition—as we had to remind ourselves occasionally—that it is well worth listening to the answer to the question before you ask a supplementary. I will draw the attention of the Senate to the answer that was in Senator Coonan’s press release. The answer by the human services minister, me, to the question without notice asked on 13 February 2008 was:

I can confirm that the government has terminated the Liberal’s much flawed access card.

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It is the financially responsible thing to do. It is the fiscally conservative thing to undertake.

That is the statement I made. Nothing has changed since that time. That is the position that has been outlined. I am not sure whether the opposition are trying to find something to hide behind—maybe they are looking for a fig leaf. In this case there is no card to hide behind. The access card has been abolished. It will not be continued with. A billion dollars has been returned to the budget.