Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. I refer the minister to reports that Australian soldiers in the Middle East have condemned the government's offer of a real pay cut to ADF personnel, with a senior non-commissioned officer saying: 'No change would have been better. [Expletive deleted] pay decrease more like it.' Given that the minister told the Senate yesterday that 'We're not cutting the pay of ADF personnel' who is correct, the front-line soldier or the minister?