Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to inform the House that the opposition supports the Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements Legislation Amendment (One-off Payments and Other Budget Measures) Bill 2008, but I should also inform the House that this is the bonus that almost never was. This legislation resulted from intense pressure brought by the opposition on the government after it was extremely credibly reported that the government was intending to scrap the bonuses which this legislation now delivers.

Back on Friday, 7 March this year, the Australian reported on its front page, as senior sources confirmed, that the payments were to be scrapped. It said:

Treasurer Wayne Swan told a business lunch the Howard government had engaged in the “old politics” of pork-barrelling, leaving the incoming government facing the need to make dramatic budget cuts to reduce the inflationary pressure that was driving up interest rates.

We now know that there were no dramatic cuts in the budget and there has been no serious fight against inflation in this budget. But we do know, because that particular report in the Australian made it very clear, there were strong forces inside the government that did want to see these carers and seniors bonuses scrapped.

Not only do we have that report, but we also had on the same day the Sydney Morning Herald reporting:

The Federal Government faces criticism from carer groups after it decided not to match a $1600 bonus payment made to carers by the Howard government in recent years.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin, confirmed the decision last night saying it was part of the Government’s plan to cut spending.

And when that day the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs was specifically asked about this, she was reported by AAP as saying:

Ms Macklin refused to rule anything in or out in the budget, but said the government understood the difficulties faced by carers.

If the government had been committed all along to paying these bonuses, why were these very well-sourced reports that they were not appearing in at least two credible newspapers and why did Minister Jenny Macklin refuse to say that the government was totally committed to paying the bonus when she was given that chance?

The government faced a storm of controversy, as you would expect, over its decision at that point in time not to pay the bonuses. At that point in time the Prime Minister was off on one of his many overseas jaunts. When he was finally contacted he said that this was something that would be dealt with in due course. When he finally came back to parliament he said that the minister was investigating how the system could be improved, saying that ‘one-off payments and bonuses were an inadequate way to deal with welfare on a long-term basis’.

So let me make this absolutely clear. First of all, the government is paying these bonuses reluctantly. It is only paying these bonuses because Jenny Macklin won a guerrilla war inside the government, against the minister for finance. The second point I make is that it is only paying these bonuses temporarily. As the Prime Minister himself made clear, and let me quote it again, ‘one-off payments and bonuses are an inadequate way to deal with welfare on a long-term basis’. So the carers and the seniors of Australia need to know their bonuses are not safe under the Rudd government. They have only got the bonuses this year because of the opposition. And there is no assurance whatsoever that these bonuses are going to be paid in future years.

I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that the carers and the pensioners of this country are doing it tough. They are not doing it as tough as they might otherwise have been because of the decisions that the Howard government made and the regular payments of these bonuses over the last few years. They are not doing it as tough as they might otherwise have been because of the massive surplus that this government inherited, thanks to the good economic management of its predecessor, and thanks to the sustained pressure that the opposition brought on the government to thwart their sneak attack on these bonuses through the minister for finance. But they are still doing it tough, and I commend Carers Australia for pointing out today just how hard it is for pensioners and carers, for whom the cost of essentials is certainly going up at a faster rate than the standard CPI. It is precisely because of this that over the last four budgets the Howard government paid these bonuses; and it is precisely because of this that the Nelson opposition would not stand for any attempt by the current government to terminate these bonuses.

The opposition certainly support this legislation. We believe that we are, in a real sense, the authors of this legislation. We believe that were it not for us this legislation would not be before the House right now. We are pleased to have fought the good fight on behalf of the carers and pensioners of this country. I can assure them that we will be here to protect them against the rapacity of the Rudd government.

See this speech in context