Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I gave a statement to the Senate yesterday. That statement deals with the issue. Go and have a look at my statement, Senator Sterle.

Now I will deal with that part of your question that is pertinent to my portfolio, and that is that Labor's policy will take money from the pockets of 230,000 pensioners and part-pensioners. It is clear from the way Labor has designed this policy that it is to take money out of the pockets of pensioners. We know this. When the policy was introduced by the Howard government, with the support of those opposite, it was deliberately designed to put money into people's pockets. Pensioners with shares who will be negatively affected by this policy include age pensioners, war widows and war widowers, veterans, disability support pensioners and carers.

Can I break that down for Senator Sterle a little bit more. In Western Australia, there are 21,011 pensioners who are affected by this. So you go and explain to them the money that you're taking out of their pockets, Senator Sterle—21,000 of them! (Time expired)