Derek McDowell (Labour)

It is commonly accepted that there are two elements in the social insurance fund: the social solidarity principle and the contributory principle. Both are equally valid. I am willing to accept what the Minister has said at face value, but it is difficult to marry it with the notion that as soon as the fund gets into surplus he takes some out to balance his budget elsewhere, which is precisely what he did. That does not stand up in principle. I am surprised to hear the Minister attempt to argue it in principle. It was simply a pragmatic effort on his part to try to balance the books in a difficult year.

Irrespective of the social partners – perhaps Senator O'Toole knows more about it than I do – I am sorry we did not find out what the Minister had intended to do in the last budget. Clearly this is an area where there can be some movement in the next five years. If the Minister does not get the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill through the other House in time he might find out that I had intended to it but it never got into our manifesto either. Perhaps one of the reasons the Minister did not do it last year is that it is difficult to do it without losers.