Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here today to support the previous speaker, the honourable member for Jagajaga. I also stand here to ask: when will it all end? When will the Turnbull government's relentless attacks on low-income Australians end? When will the Turnbull government's attacks on the most vulnerable people in our community end? When will the Turnbull government's attacks on regional, rural and remote Australian communities end? When will the Turnbull government stop attacking hardworking Australians who are just trying to get ahead? This is a government that kicks a person when they are down. Labor will not support these vicious attacks. What all Australians want is simply a fair go. They want a fair go to be able to travel for study should they need to because of where they live and/or the availability of relevant education and training.

This government talks big about the importance of education and how it is funding the best education system for our children, but the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Better Targeting Student Payments) Bill 2017 certainly does not support that view for our most vulnerable citizens. One of the key aims of the NDIS is to get people with a disability back into the workforce. If someone from the government could tell me how these cuts will help achieve that key aim, I would be truly grateful. A person's credit card should not determine their ability to access educational training at any age. But this is exactly what the Turnbull government is doing by cutting these vital assistance programs.

The pensioner education supplement and the education entry payment were both introduced to help social security recipients meet the additional costs of study, which would enable them to get the skills that they need to get back into the workforce. These payments are received predominantly by people with disability, mental ill health, carers, sole parents and the long-term unemployed who have taken up study or training to better themselves. In the 2016-17 financial year, 11,662 people received education entry payment. Of those, 4,805 were recipients of the parenting payment single, 2,986 were recipients of the disability support pension, 2,762 were recipients of Newstart, and 826 were recipients of the carer payment. Recipients of these payments are far less likely than any other student to be able to undertake full-time study. The majority of recipients often have health barriers or caring responsibilities that prevent full-time study. The majority of these recipients are overwhelmingly the recipients of the parenting payment single, the carer payment and the disability support pension.

Disproportionately, the carer payment and the parenting payment single are paid to women, where inequality in most areas is real. Therefore, there is a high likelihood that the changes in this bill will disproportionately impact on women. Ninety-four per cent of parenting payment single recipients are women, and 69 per cent of carer payment recipients are women. If you are a single parent, a person with a disability or a carer with a 50 per cent study load, you will receive a 50 per cent cut to your payment. I ask the Turnbull government: how is this fair? The restrictions around the definition in this bill are entirely unfair. The reality is this delivers a result where people will receive a 50 per cent cut. Also, there are some people who will be studying part time who will receive a 100 per cent cut.

Then there is the pensioner education supplement cut. Haven't pensioners already been hit hard by this government? Apparently not, because here comes another wave of attacks. The government's relentless attack on pensioners is completely unacceptable, unheard of and simply plain wrong. First, the Turnbull government wants people to work until they're 70. How is that fair for a roof tiler or a plumber or a concreter, for example? Let's not forget the fact that the government is also cutting the energy supplement. With soaring electricity costs, no renewable target or quality plan, how is cutting the energy supplement fair?

On top of that, this government is cutting the pensioner education supplement. The pensioner education supplement is a fortnightly payment for some social security recipients to assist with the ongoing cost of study. Currently, the pensioner education supplement is paid at $62.40 per fortnight for a full-time student or $31.20 per fortnight for a part-time student. This bill cuts the pensioner education supplement during non-study periods. This will result in a cut for every recipient of the supplement, as it will no longer be paid on a fortnightly basis each year. Pensioner education supplement recipients, like recipients of the education entry payment, are less likely than other students to be able to maintain their full-time study load, as I have already said, due to health barriers or caring responsibilities. If your study load is 75 per cent, you will be $15.60 a fortnight worse off. Like with the education entry payment, it is the most vulnerable people, once again, who are affected. In the 2016-17 financial year, 37,717 people received the pensioner education supplement. Of these, 16,276 were recipients of the parenting payment single, 15,430 were recipients of the disability support pension, 3,336 were recipients of the carer payment and 2,619 were recipients of Newstart.

The Australian Council of Social Service estimates that 75 per cent of recipients of the pensioner education supplement are women. Women are already experiencing inequality relating to wages and superannuation, just to mention two areas. Women will receive the brunt of these harsh Turnbull government cuts. The changes in this bill will disproportionately impact women who have started a course or training to get back into the workforce. With little to no representation of women in the Turnbull government cabinet, of course the interests of women have been overlooked, and it is blatantly obvious.

There are also around 9,400 people who currently receive both payments and are at risk of being doubly hit by these unfair cuts. This government has been trying to abolish the education entry supplement and the pensioner education supplement since 2014. Labor has been fighting to maintain these payments for income support recipients who are trying to achieve an education that will give them a better opportunity at a contributing life and some financial security from a job.

The LNP are relentless in their attacks on our most vulnerable citizens. This is typical of the Turnbull government, which is either constantly underestimating the true cost of living for everyday Australians or they simply don't care. $62 per fortnight may not sound like much to this government, but it is to a single parent who is trying to find room in an already stretched family budget to afford textbooks. Let's revisit the cuts the Turnbull government has made to working families, single parents and pensioners: energy supplement, gone; family tax benefit, frozen; penalty rates, cut; pensioner education supplement, cut; and education entry payment, cut. In fact, the only two things that the Turnbull government has decided to increase are the working age—to 70—and a huge tax break for big business, which equals $65 billion. We know that the cuts to workers and families won't stop there, because you can't trust this government to look after anyone other than big business.

What is even more outrageous is that the Turnbull government wants to get people off the social security system but at the same time will make the cuts to the very programs that assist people to get an education and to get ready for employment. This is just shameful. If the Turnbull government really cared about helping income-support recipients find work, they would stop trying to make it harder for them to just get through the day. Malcolm Turnbull says one thing and does another. Labor will always stand up for fairness. The Turnbull government want to make low- and middle-income Australians pay more so that their wealthy mates can pay less tax. They talk about a fair go, but that is not a fair go. It is not fair that big business gets a huge tax cut and a single parent gets a $62 cut to their education payment—a payment that assists them in getting employment and a better life for their family. It is not fair to also cut the energy supplement at the same time.

Pensioners, families and working Australians pay their fair share of tax and it is about time that big business did as well. The lowest income earners should not prop up the wealthiest. Until Chevron and Google start paying tax, they shouldn't receive any benefits from our taxpayer dollars. The benefits should go to the people who need them the most, and they are certainly not big business. Australians have had enough of the Turnbull government and their attacks on our most vulnerable citizens. You can only kick people when they are down for so long and then they will revolt. People will fight back. There will be a national revolt against this government, and, with 21 bad polls in a row, it appears that people are now making their point very clear as to where their vote will go at the next federal election.

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