Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, the purpose of this amendment that Senator Hanson circulated yesterday, which we now learn was not her birthday, even though she told us 10 minutes ago it was her birthday—certainly she circulated this amendment after she had turned 67—is to provide a very generous tax concession to high-income earners who are 67 or over. Of course, Senator Hanson, unlike most people in this chamber, just happens to tick each box: high-income earner and 67. What a nice wicket!

There is some dispute about the value of this pay rise that Senator Hanson is seeking to grant herself. We have calculated that, over the course of a six-year Senate term, it amounts to $30,000, but there are other calculations that have been performed this morning which suggest that, in fact, it could be up to the value of $150,000. But let's be generous to Senator Hanson and assume she's only trying to give herself a $30,000 pay rise. What sort of politician, what sort of political representative, sets out, when they're thinking about what they want to achieve in Canberra, that their top priority is to give themselves a pay rise? What sort of person does that? What sort of person goes around to Queenslanders, misleading struggling battlers and trying to tell them that they're on their side, when, in fact, what they do is they secretly come down to Canberra and circulate amendments under the cover of darkness which are intended to give them at least a $30,000 pay rise? I'll tell you what kind of politician does that: Senator Hanson does that, and she has form.

Whether you look back over her recent political career or her longer-term political career, one consistent thing we have seen from Senator Hanson is a laser-like focus on targeting public funds to enrich herself. She's done it before with electoral funds. She's doing it now with taxpayers' funds on superannuation.