Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

For at least 25 years Newstart allowance has been indexed twice a year by CPI. That is under governments of both political persuasions. Labor went to the last election proposing $387 billion of higher taxes. Do you know how much of that they allocated to increasing Newstart allowance? Zero. So don't come in here with your hypocritical statements. After $387 billion in higher taxes, not a single cent, not a zack for providing additional resources for Newstart allowance, so that is just a hypocritical question.