Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann was addressing members of the Senate and meant members of the Senate. My recollection is different from that of Senator Cormann. My recollection is that there was a modest exchange of congratulations by Senator Bob Brown and the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Evans. There might have been a slight shake of the hand between Senator Bob Brown and Minister Wong, who is responsible for passage of the great package.

Senator Evans and Senator Wong were proud—and they should be—of what they had achieved. They were proud of the legislation. They were proud of the result. They were proud of the inbuilt equity bias in the package of legislation presented and passed and they were proud of the assistance package that we have been discussing over the last 12 months. There was no yelling, no screaming, no kissing and no hubris; just modesty and pride in a package promised, a package delivered and a package well done. That was the entire contribution, and when it was done members of the government left the chamber and went about their work.

We had the same thing today. I was struck by the description in the opening question to Senator Wong where the government's position was described as one of 'stubborn persistence'. I watch all of the speakers here and it must be said that Senator Wong gets more than her fair share of questions. Her response is always, without exception, gracious, charitable and not prone to an excess of language and not always but mostly answers the point. So when the question came from Senator Edwards, 'What was the increase in the price of electricity anticipated by the government?' Senator Wong's first words were, '$3.30 per week.' Question asked; question answered.

Then Senator Wong went on to explain some of the detail of the package passed by the Senate and how proud the government was, in particular proud of the inbuilt equity bias in the package and assisting low-income families and those in need. Senator Wong proceeded, in a modest way, to detail and outline the package—how it provided real increases in the age pension, how it provided a real increase in the disability support pension, how it assisted families through significant changes to the family tax benefit, how it provided for an increase in the carer payment and how, at the end, it provided for a major restructure of the taxation system through the tax package for families on an income below $80,000. That is the entirety of the carbon tax package of bills that went through the Senate a fortnight ago. That is the entirety of the benefit. This government is proud of having brought it forward, proud of having achieved it— (Time expired)