Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked today.

In my particular case I refer to the responses by Senator Sherry, who is responsible for the Australian superannuation system. Senator Sherry’s responses show a government that is simply not equipped to understand or to deal with the great global financial challenges in world markets and the impact these will have on Australia. This government of hollow men and women appears blissfully unaware of the dangers to the Australian economy flowing from the events in international capital markets.

Senator Sherry gave a rambling answer to a dorothy dixer yesterday from Senator Collins on challenges being faced by the US financial markets. He said in answer to an interjection from me that he would address the exposure of Australian super funds in his answer but he failed to do so—and he failed to answer my question today. In fact, all he could do was to point to the undeniable fact that Australia is in a stronger position than most to weather the storm and that the regulators are working hard and doing what they can to minimise the impact on policyholders. He pointed to the fact that superannuation is a long-term saving. Of course this is true, but it will be cold comfort to all Australians who are on the verge of retirement. Already, figures show superannuation funds lost in the vicinity of 11 per cent in the last few months and obviously more in the last few days due to volatility on the share market.

The impact on superannuation particularly affects those who plan to retire this year or possibly next year. It may require them to stay in the workforce—that is, of course, if they continue to have an available job—or to go on the pension or a part pension. It may require self-funded retirees to resort to going on the pension or a part pension. Heaven help any elderly Australian who has to rely on this government when it comes to the pension. Heaven help them, I say, because this Rudd Labor government will not.

We have all seen on display day after day the contempt that this government has for age pensioners. This is a government, from the Prime Minister down, that sends its ministers out day after day to say that they could not live on the age pension. They freely acknowledge that they could not live on the single pension. Mr Deputy President, when you think about this for a moment, just think of the cheek of this. These are senior ministers who acknowledge how bad it is for age pensioners but who do nothing to fix it. What sort of government, from its senior team down, admits there is a severe financial impact on the capacity of thousands of vulnerable Australians to meet the bare necessities of life and yet does nothing about it?

There has been a massive rise in prices over the past 12 months since the last coalition budget—in fact, a very substantial increase in prices across the board—and, as we have seen, the Rudd Labor government has proven incapable of doing anything to keep a lid on prices, to keep downward pressure on prices. But of course what it can do and what it refuses to do is to help our pensioners with something to tide them over.

My proposition to the Senate and particularly to those opposite is: let’s act now. Let’s give $30 a week to single age pensioners. We can do this right now. It does not prejudice a review, it does not stop us from doing other things. We can act right now, and any decent government should. If you cannot even manage the economy to provide for a decent pension, you certainly cannot manage the broader economy. We are paying the price for having a nervous and incompetent Treasurer, Mr Swan. We are paying the price for a do-nothing government. Business and consumer confidence is plummeting.

The Australian people have been seriously misled. They have elected a government that has no confidence in Australia’s economy nor the experience to manage it, and certainly no compassion for age pensioners. What we have are endless focus group slogans and ultimately a government that will stand guilty of doing nothing, not having leadership and having no ideas on how to manage the economy at a time of peril. (Time expired)