Mr MOSSFIELD(5.54 p.m.) —During the winter break my office sent out to hundreds of our pensioners and veterans their updated information kits. These kits are well received and in fact are anxiously awaited. They are able to inform our veterans and pensioners of their rights and also of their current entitlements. Many of these pensioners and veterans phone my office to express their appreciation after receiving their kits. This recent dispatch of kits was no exception. My office received many calls from our elderly citizens, but this year they had a sting in the tail—not for me or the opposition but for the Howard government.

These important members of our community are extremely annoyed with the Howard government. Their major concern, of course, is the cost of pharmaceuticals and various cuts in benefits. These important citizens have given their very all to our community of Australia over the years. They have worked hard and have paid millions of dollars in taxes to the government. They have no negative geared or used family trusts, nor have they been paid a stipend by their company. They have in fact been the battling backbone of our nation, and they really believed John Howard when he seemed to be reaching out to them prior to the 1996 election.

What a disaster it has all been for them. They find to their horror that their regular and often weekly visits to the chemist for their pharmaceutical needs are fraught with financial danger. They now seek advice not about the value of the treatment they need but as to which of several treatments they should get due to the cost increases. This means that they are not taking all of their prescribed treatments, only those that they can afford in a particular week.

The phone calls and letters to my office are extremely critical, with people saying such thing as: `We think that such cuts to benefits on those pensioners who are ill and/or infirm and most in need of such care are disgraceful and contemptuous actions of economising by the government.' The ignoring of these comments by the government will be done so at its own peril. I guess that, in my electorate of Greenway, when the election comes it will mean that my margin will grow substantially. However, for the government, despite its current enormous majority now, reactions of people such as the elderly and veterans will see these margins dramatically reduce, and in fact many seats will return to the Labor Party.

It is indeed breathtaking to see the extent to which the Howard government has lost faith with the voters of this nation. It matters not where you travel, the tune is the same: `They promised the world and delivered a desert island.' The veterans and pensioners are writing to and phoning my office saying, `We hope that you and other members of parliament will take every opportunity to criticise and condemn these actions by the government, not only in parliament but also in the media.'

I have done just that and will continue to draw to the attention of my electorate the shameful attacks that have been launched upon so many of these less able members of our community by this uncaring and ideologically driven old-style tory government. Who would have thought that children and grandchildren of those who lived through the 1930s Great Depression would inflict such constant and vigorous pain on those who became the backbone of Australia through wars and good times?

The government will not be allowed to escape the wrath of the voters from all avenues of our society as we move closer and closer to the next election day of judgment. Those with children in need of reasonably priced child care, those out of work, those who have had to sell their family home to get into a nursing home and those who have watched as their elderly relatives have been dogged by higher and higher prices for their pharmaceutical necessities of life will remember on election day, and we will see that they remember. They will exact their ultimate get square. Who would have thought that a Howard government with a stunning majority could be even contemplating a one-term government? Do not blame us; simply blame yourselves.

I would also like to join with other members of this parliament in wishing Senator Bruce Childs all the best in his future endeavours.