Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I will make a general point that seems to be forgotten by the Labor Party and the Greens from time to time when they are pursuing political attacks on individuals. That is that when we make laws in this place, we make these laws for all Australians, and we are all equal under the law. All of us are income taxpayers, yet we make judgements in relation to income tax arrangements. All of us are in varying superannuation arrangements. We make laws in relation to superannuation arrangements that apply to us and to people across Australia.

The proposition that you are not allowed to exercise your rights and responsibilities as an elected member of parliament in this chamber because something might potentially have an impact on you in an adverse way or in a beneficial way is fundamentally undemocratic. The implication of the question that Senator Singh just put is that, because we are considering a law that applies equally to everyone, an individual member is not allowed to participate in the public policy debate in relation to these matters if they might be impacted in a different way by that law due to their individual circumstances. That is fundamentally undemocratic. That is a fundamentally flawed argument. I know that it serves the base political objectives of a Labor Party under the leadership of Bill Shorten. But that is not an appropriate public policy argument to make. That is essentially all I have to say in relation to these matters.