Mr CREAN —I direct a question to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. When are you going to answer an MPI, you old leftie, you? You old leftie. When are you going to come in and answer an MPI?

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Hotham knows that he must come to his question.

Mr CREAN —I refer to the minister's statement this week that veterans' pensions with a GST will always be higher than when they—

Mr SPEAKER —The Treasurer will resume his seat. The member for Hotham has the call. He will start his question again.

Mr CREAN —Absolutely. So rudely interrupted—

Mr SPEAKER —No, the member for Hotham will come to his question.

Mr CREAN —by the ill-disciplined Treasurer.

Mr Martin Ferguson —What do you expect of a dog?

Mr CREAN —My question is to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. I refer—

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr CREAN —I refer to the minister's statement—

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr CREAN —I refer—

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Hotham has been persistently interrupted, and I apologise for that.

Mr CREAN —Thank you.

Mr Howard —The member for Batman said, `What do you expect of a dog?'

Ms Bailey interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —The member for McEwen and the Prime Minister know that if they want the chair's attention they need to rise. I have little doubt that something that was unsavoury was said. I did not hear what the comment was and I would expect the member for Batman to exercise more restraint.

Ms Bailey —Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I, like many members here, took offence at what the member for Batman had to say, and I ask him to withdraw his comment.

Mr SPEAKER —I did not hear what the member for Batman said. That does not mean that people cannot draw my attention to it. I would ask the member for Batman if, in the interests of the House, he would withdraw the comment without reservation.

Mr Martin Ferguson —Mr Speaker, without reservation I withdraw the Victorian Premier's description of the Treasurer.

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —The House will come to order. The Leader of the House.

Mr O'Keefe interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —I warn the member for Burke!

Mr Reith —Mr Speaker, that was not an unconditional withdrawal. As everybody in this House knows, that was not the unconditional withdrawal which is the requirement of members, and I ask you to require him to do the right and decent thing, for a change.

Mr SPEAKER —I would like the Leader of the House to withdraw the latter part of his statement, which I felt was unfairly provocative, and I would then expect the member for Batman to respond in a similar spirit in the interests of the House.

Mr Reith —I withdraw.

Mr Martin Ferguson —I withdraw, Mr Speaker.

Mr SPEAKER —I thank you both. I call the member for Hotham.

Mr CREAN —My question is to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. I refer to the minister's statement this week that veterans' pensions with a GST will always be higher than they would be without a GST. Has the minister seen the comments of Access Economics's Geoff Carmody:

As male total average weekly earnings grow faster than the CPI, the benefits of compensation will be eroded to zero relative to the pre-existing legislated pension adequacy benchmark.

In the light of the minister's promise on veterans' pensions, can he explain to the House the mechanism that will avoid the problem that Mr Carmody has described?

Mr BRUCE SCOTT (Veterans' Affairs; Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence) —We still have old Labor on the other side of the House with no ideas, getting out there, resorting to the old tactics of scaring the old people, including our veterans. Shame on all of you over there. They deserve better than ever having you back in power again.

Mr SPEAKER —The minister will come to the question.

Mr BRUCE SCOTT —We are getting on with the job. But, if you will pass the tax reform package, our veterans will be better off. They will have higher thresholds which will give a pension to some veterans who are denied access to one today. Many of our veterans who are unable to access a pension today because of other income will be able to gain access to a pension for the first time because of our higher thresholds. We have Labor on the other side who, when they introduced higher taxes—

Mr Crean —Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. I asked for the mechanism. The minister should be directed to come to that point.

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Hotham knows that the chair has never had the power to direct the way a question is answered. He can only call on the minister to be relevant to the question. I ask the minister to be relevant to the question.

Mr BRUCE SCOTT —When the coalition gets its tax reform legislation through, the veterans will be better off. It requires support and some leadership from the other side of the House. It is about time that the Leader of the Opposition listened to some of the advice he is getting lately.