Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all of the members for their contributions, particularly the member who has just spoken for his excellent contribution to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Energy Assistance Payment and Pensioner Concession Card) Bill 2017. Mr Deputy Speaker Vasta, as you are aware, the bill provides for a one-off energy assistance payment to welfare recipients who have a limited ability to earn additional income, and the bill reinstates the pensioner concession card to more than 92,000 former pensioners who ceased being eligible for a pension on 1 January 2017 due to the rebalancing of the pension assets test. So the bill provides for a one-off energy assistance payment to recipients of the age pension, disability support pension, parenting payment single, and veterans and their partners paid the service pension, the income support supplement or relevant compensation payments who are eligible for payment and residing in Australia on 20 June 2017, the test date. This payment is to assist them with their energy costs. The energy assistance payment will be $75 for singles and $62.50 for each member of a couple and will provide additional assistance to individuals, totalling 3.8 million Australians.

The bill will also reinstate the pensioner concession card to about 92,300 former pension recipients. These former pensioners lost their entitlement to the pensioner concession card when they ceased being eligible for the pension on 1 January 2017 due to the rebalancing of the pension assets test. They will once again be eligible for the card. To maintain their current benefits, those former pensioners issued with a Commonwealth seniors health card will also retain that card. As the pensioner concession card provides all the benefits of the healthcare card, the healthcare card will become redundant and will be deactivated for those former pensioners issued with a healthcare card on 1 January 2017 due to the rebalancing of the pension assets test.

I might note here in closing that, in response to the amendment to this bill moved by the member for Jagajaga, it will probably not come as a surprise to members opposite that I can confirm the government will not be supporting that amendment. I would also note that that amendment is in effect something of a protest. Despite the protests of members opposite, when they delivered their election costings to the Australian people at the last election, the absolute fact is that they failed to reverse and thereby adopted the exact measures that they now continually protest. So we can be absolutely clear as a matter of fact that Labor adopted the rebalancing of the pension assets test. They adopted the measure, they took the savings and they spent the savings. We can confirm, to be absolutely clear, that Labor adopted changes to the schoolkids bonus. They took those savings, they banked those savings and they spent those saving. We can also be absolutely clear that, at the 2016 election—in the election policy that they took to the Australian people and that the Australian people took in good faith—they adopted ending the carbon tax compensation for new entrants to the welfare system—that is, they adopted our position, which is to end compensation for a tax that no longer exists.

It does take, I think, a very thorough-going devotion to fantasy when you can both oppose and support a measure all at the same time—but that is a devotion to fantasy that is being repeated with great regularity. Members opposite with respect to the NDIS funding gap claim to be able to spend savings three times. For years members opposite have said that they want simpler, more affordable child care, and then they voted against it. For years members opposite have said that they support needs based school funding, but now they intend to vote against it. For years they have said that they fully support the NDIS, but now they oppose the very mechanism that they have always suggested is the fairest way to fully fund the NDIS. So I would encourage those opposite to be, at the very least, up-front, genuine and transparent with the Australian people. It is an untenable position to take to an election, a full general election, the adoption of a savings measure and then continually try and convince the Australian people that you are in actual fact opposing it.

Where measures have been supported at an election they should be supported when the government moves those measures in parliament. These measures are designed to improve the sustainability of the welfare system, which is no doubt why they were agreed to by members opposite at the 2016 election. The coalition says what it will do. We are transparent. We are open. We take challenging and difficult decisions in the broader interests of the Australian people, and it is these decisions that are allowing us to plot a real and consistent path back to surplus. In closing, the bill acts on the government's commitments outlined in the 2017-18 budget. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context