Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Shortland for her question. She knows that this government is determined to act in the national interest to introduce a price on carbon pollution. She also knows that this government is determined to make sure that it is the big polluters that pay for carbon pollution and not Australian families and pensioners. We want to make sure that acting on climate change continues to be in the interests of the economy and in the interests of our children.

Under our plan to put a price on carbon pollution we do intend to provide support to pensioners; 3.4 million pensioners will receive assistance. That assistance amounts to $338 for single pensioners each year and $255 a year for each member of a pensioner couple. Very importantly for pensioners, both the pension and the clean energy supplement will increase over time to make sure that the assistance that we do provide to pensioners will keep up with the cost of living. It is also the case that under our plan to put a price on carbon pollution we intend to provide support to nine out of 10 households. Nine out of 10 households will receive support and that will include three million low-income households who will receive assistance over and above their expected increased prices. All of these increases in payments and pensions will be very important for all of those Australians. It will also be the case that these increases in payments will go straight into the bank accounts of families and straight into the bank accounts of pensioners—no extra forms or queues for people to worry about.

What we know is that the Leader of the Opposition has a very different plan to this. What he intends to do is act in his own interest, not in the nation's interest. What this Leader of the Opposition is going to do is to make sure that he gives the bill for dealing with carbon pollution to families and to pensioners. We know that that will amount to Australian families being $1,300 a year worse off as a result of his changes. Even worse, we know that this Leader of the Opposition intends to claw back the assistance that this government will provide to pensioners and to families.

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