Senator CONROY (Victoria—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (15:46): I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: "The Government's unfair pay deal for Australian Defence Force personnel which cuts real pay and takes away vital Christmas and recreational leave". I rise to support this urgency motion. It is an urgent matter that this government be held to account for its disgraceful decision to cut the real pay and conditions of our servicemen and women. It is being condemned for this. This government is being justifiably condemned across the country, across the defence community; it is right that it also be condemned in this parliament. This disgraceful decision will see more than 55,000 ADF personnel take a real pay cut every year for the next three years. And what do they get in return? They have to give up—that is right, Mr President, give up—leave and other entitlements. This includes Christmas leave and five other days of leave. Christmas is when all of us spend our time with our loved ones. This time is precious. It is particularly precious for our ADF families, whose fathers or mothers can be away for so much of the year. They are away from home serving our country, keeping our country safe. What kind of government thinks that this type of deal is acceptable? What kind of values does a government have when it thinks a deal like this is acceptable? It should hang its head in shame, and each and every one of those opposite who is not prepared to vote in support of this resolution should hang their head in shame as well. There has been community outrage at this decision. The Defence Force Welfare Association has condemned the government's pay offer. One soldier said this deal is: … essentially a kick in the teeth to every Soldier, Airmen, & Sailor. A petition on Change.org for a better deal has more than 22,000 signatures. And people are right to be outraged because before the election, in a speech to the RSL National Conference, the now Prime Minister—that serial liar, Mr Abbott—said this— Senator Fifield: Point of order, Mr President. The PRESIDENT: I do not need a point of order. Senator Conroy, you have to withdraw that. Senator CONROY: I withdraw. This is what the now Prime Minister said to the RSL: A “fair go” is the least a grateful nation can offer to serving and former military personnel. That is what he said. Where is the fair go in cutting the real pay of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and women? Where is the fair go for ADF families in the cuts to leave and other entitlements? This is, yet again, another government broken promise, another government lie. And that tally is mounting up: already today we have discussed three or four others. To promise a fair go for our military personnel before the election, then slug them with a real pay cut after the election—'no surprises' the then opposition leader said before the election. There will be no excuses, no blaming the others, no blaming anybody else; no surprises for the Australian public. Well I have got to tell you: there are 55,000 bloody surprised service personnel in this country today! This is, unfortunately, a pattern of behaviour when it comes to this government. The first decision, the very first decision, taken by this defence minister was to cut the pay and conditions of ADF personnel serving in Afghanistan and the Middle East. And now in the first chance they get to put in place an ADF pay deal, the Abbott government cuts the ADF's real pay and conditions again. This is despite—and here is where the real deceit comes into play and not one of the speakers who are going to follow on the other side will be able to explain this—in the 2014-15 budget already having allocated funding for a fair pay deal for ADF personnel. So they put in the budget four per cent. It is in the budget papers. It does not add to the deficit. It does not add to expenditure: it is in the budget. What do we see? A pay increase of 1.5 per cent already allocated, already decided, but they budgeted for up to four per cent. So they cannot try and blame previous governments. They cannot try and blame the deficit. They cannot try and blame all of the expenditure on other programs in their own budget: they allocated for up to four per cent. They are just being mean, tricky and deceitful. I spent weeks exposing the fact that it is a real pay cut. I have had the minister saying, 'It's not a pay cut at all; they are getting a pay rise.' They are all playing with words and semantics. It is real pay cut— Senator Ian Macdonald: It's a 1½ per cent pay rise. Senator CONROY: I thank you Senator Macdonald. Come on in, spinner; come on in. He wants to try and pretend that if you give someone a 1.5 per cent pay increase in nominal dollars and inflation rises three per cent, that that is not a real pay cut. That is what those opposite are going to stand up here and try and argue today. What is the situation when it comes to hypocrisy and inconsistency from those opposite? When Labor was in government over the past three years, ADF pay increased by an average of three per cent—double what you are supporting today. What did the Liberals say when Labor was putting in place a three per cent pay increase? They railed against it. The now assistant minister for Defence called it 'outrageous'—three per cent was outrageous. If a three per cent increase is outrageous, what does the assistant Defence minister call a real pay cut—which is what he is handing to our serving personnel? It is disgraceful. It is an absolute disgrace what has gone on and the hypocrisy, the attack and the criticism of just three per cent, keeping up with inflation, but then offer a real pay cut. This motion is urgent today, because if the government wanted to, if those opposite had the guts to stand up on behalf of Defence personnel, if the minister and the assistant minister had the guts, they would vote for this. It is time the Prime Minister showed some leadership, because the clock is ticking. The government has until 1 December to ask the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal to reconsider its determination and, in doing so, the government is able to set out the grounds on which the reconsideration is being sought. Tell the truth: we budgeted for up to four per cent; we can afford to do it. Given the outrage within ADF ranks, their families and the wider community, there are undoubtedly sufficient grounds upon which to appeal this decision. In particular, the government should set out for the tribunal that its original offer was unfair and wrong, particularly in the light of the budget allocation. They could set out that it is affecting morale and is likely to affect recruitment. They could set out that it has caused a backlash across the whole ADF—servicemen and women and their families—and the wider community. It should be changed to ensure a fair deal for our ADF personnel. (Time expired)