Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As we enter into the final stages of our sitting week—and you can hear all the suitcases rolling down the hallway. I'm not pointing to anyone in particular, who will be back on Monday and making a lot of noise while they are here. But it's getting closer to aeroplane time, and they're long gone after question time. I couldn't let that one slip! We're still here. There are some times when you get a motion and you think, 'We can do all the theatrics and we can do all the hand movements and we can make all the jokes.' But then there are times when you actually have to clarify the record and put a few home truths on the table. I'm going to put a few home truths on the table.

I know this order was presented back on 9 March, as Senator Duniam did say, by Senator Ruston. I know how it works: they all get together on tactics, and someone says, 'Here's a great idea; let's run on this.' Then some poor bunny has to put their name to it. I've seen it all in opposition before. I get that. That's fine. It's no slight against Senator Ruston at all. But the motion does reference superannuation. It references medicines and it references Medicare as well. I just think, while all the frivolity is going on, let's just tell some truth, shall we? Rather than just try and waste a bit of time on a Thursday arvo while our mates are at the airport having a gin and tonic or something and while we're still here working. The opposition, seriously, have got more front than Myers when they come in here and start lecturing the Australian Labor Party on the values of superannuation. I mean, I love this, I have to say. There are some in your ranks, seriously, that believe that superannuation shouldn't even exist. We know who they are. You know who they are. We've seen the language. We've seen some of the terrible, toxic wording around superannuation and what they think about it. But let's talk about change, shall we? Let's have a go at this.

I want to quote an article by Peter Hartcher. It was titled, 'Labor's on a roll. No wonder the Libs are flat out'. This was from March of this year, where he pointed out, 'The Liberals'—not even they want to acknowledge the other mob who aren't in the room here, because they've got the hayseed in the suitcase out after question time and are gone too, but don't forget the Nats; they're in a coalition. But everyone likes to put on the Libs because they spend more time blueing with each other, but—

The Liberals' changes to super in 2016 were much broader. This week's decision—

And this is referring to March of this year.

… marked the Labor government as being cautious and incremental. Even responsible. The point of the change was to save $2 billion a year to help repair the yawning deficit left behind by the Liberals.

That's from Mr Hartcher. It can't be any clearer than that. Seriously, for those out there listening, we're still fixing up the mess that you left behind for us. We had a decade of waste and mismanagement—or nearly a decade; thank God we were a couple of months short of it! There were nearly ten years of waste and mismanagement.

Again, the opposition has the gall to come in and lecture us about alleged 'broken promises'. Everyone knows that the Liberals have always hated superannuation. We know that. the Canberra Times published a story in November 2019, with the headline: 'Lib Senator says superannuation a cancer'. That is what it says. I know who the senator was. He isn't here at the moment. He's probably between here, the airport and his home town in Queensland. I'm not going to name Senator Rennick! He'll work it out for himself. But we've got a fair idea who it is. Now, the Sydney Morning Herald