Mr KATTER (10:27 PM) — In rising to speak on the Superannuation (Government Co-contribution for Low Income Earners) Bill 2002 and Superannuation Legislation Amendment Bill 2002 this evening, I would like to put some emphasis on where the funds are going. I do not want to come into this place and say we are acting like Santa Claus in giving away taxpayers' money, but it does seem that, if the government believe that they can afford to do it, it is a very excellent thing to provide the incentive for people to save and to look after themselves in their retirement. That, of course, is the thrust of the co-contribution bill. That being the case, it will probably work out well for the government or the Treasury overall and may even be revenue neutral.

Having said that, I acknowledge that there has been a very profound change in the saving patterns in Australia. An awful lot of people in Australia look to their own affairs and say, `Some 10, 15 or 20 years ago we were able to save and we find now that we cannot save anything.' We get an excellent document in our office called Monthly Economic and Social Indicators, which we call the MESI. I was rather intrigued to see in that document that a lot of the indications are that people are better off. Average weekly earnings taken against the rise in the CPI indicate that people are a lot better off now than they were, say, 15 years ago. I take the introduction of the policies which we often describe as economic rationalism as being the take-off point for funding and savings.

Debate interrupted.