Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Maribyrnong! What a coincidence! What an audition! On the day of the resignation of the member for Hunter from shadow cabinet, we have the member for Maribyrnong leading the MPI, and never before have I seen those opposite look so intently, as they weigh their important decisions in their mind. But the old class war is back. That's what we have seen from the member for Maribyrnong—missing completely the facts and the commitment of the Morrison government to make sure that Australians don't become vulnerable as a result of the pandemic and to make sure that we provide support to those people who are vulnerable in our community.

One of the government's first responses to the economic impact of COVID-19 was in relation to JobSeeker. The $550 per fortnight coronavirus supplement expanded, as did the access criteria, and we waived waiting periods for the period of six months from March through to September. We extended the supplements for three months to 31 December at a rate of $250 per fortnight, while introducing a boosted income-free area of $300 per fortnight to encourage jobseekers to take up work where available. We're focused on providing the temporary and fine-tuned, elevated levels of support in response to the ongoing impact of this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Only today, the Prime Minister announced that JobSeeker will be extended to 30 March 2021 at a rate of $150 per fortnight, extending the income-free area, because we want to encourage Australians who are out of work to dip their toes into the job market. The expanded eligibility criteria will cover sole traders, people who are self-employed, those who have been stood down but remain connected to their workplace, people who are in isolation and those who have to care for somebody in isolation. We're focused on striking the right balance between temporary, enhanced support and incentives to work as the Australian economy reopens. Meanwhile, our $101 billion JobKeeper program has kept Australians at the risk of unemployment connected to their jobs, and we have extended it to 28 March 2021. The JobMaker hiring credit, currently before this parliament, will help young people access job opportunities as the economy recovers. It will be available to employers for each new job they create over the next 12 months for which they hire an eligible young person aged 16 to 35 years old.

COVID-19 had a severe toll on many vulnerable people. It had a severe toll on the mental health of those who are vulnerable in our society. The Australian government was one of the first governments internationally to recognise the impact of this pandemic on their citizens' mental health, and we responded. The Australian government is continuing to take action to support Australians whose mental health and wellbeing is being affected by COVID-19 by providing $315.9 million to support a doubling of Medicare-funded psychological services, expanding access to services for young people, older Australians and particularly those Victorians who were hit the hardest because of the decisions and failures of the Victorian government.

Earlier this year, we announced that the government's digital mental health portal, Head to Health, would be a single source of authoritative information and guidance on how to maintain good mental health. A national communications campaign, delivered in conjunction with the National Mental Health Commission, was devised to provide information about maintaining mental health wellbeing, raising awareness of the signs of when you or your loved one needs additional assistance and where to find important further information, support and care. Ten million dollars was earmarked to create a dedicated coronavirus wellbeing support line delivered by Beyond Blue. Of course, younger Australians studying this year were affected by coronavirus and the pandemic, and so $6.75 million was provided to deliver the headspace digital work and study service, an e-headspace.

Charities and other community organisations have stood up during this pandemic and the government has been there to support them. $200 million was provided to support charities doing great work in the community, such as emergency and food relief, as the demand for their services surged.

Sadly, the COVID pandemic has seen the rise of domestic violence in our community, and so our $150 million domestic violence response package is expanding perpetrator interventions, providing case management for survivors through court processes, producing tech-enabled support services and increasing safe accommodation capacity. The states and territories have now received a $130 million allocation, through a September instalment payment, to help family and domestic violence support services across Australia.

Carers, disability support pensioners and age pension recipients have been supported by this government during this pandemic as well. Eligible recipients, including recipients of DSP, carer payment, carer allowance and age pension, have received two economic support payments of $750. The first payment was automatically paid by Services Australia, who have done an amazing job in supporting Australians in their time of need. Payments were made from 31 March and went into the same bank account as their payment. The second economic support payment of $750 was paid to eligible recipients from 13 July 2020. These payments were designed to support confidence and domestic demand in the economy, and it would support those vulnerable Australians when they needed the support the most. Pensioners will also benefit from two additional economic support payments of $250 that were announced by the Treasurer in the 2020-21 budget. The first will be paid from December 2020, and the second from March 2021. We are focused on supporting Australians through this difficult time.

Nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of Australians, and this government has the track record to show that we are focused on preventing Australians from becoming vulnerable and ensuring that we have supports in place for those that are. Now, as we focus on coming out of this pandemic, the Australian government has secured an additional 50 million doses, through two new advance purchase agreements, taking our total to over 134 million doses, if proven safe and effective. We are focused on vaccines to ensure that we can protect Australians, all Australians, vulnerable and otherwise. Access to these vaccines will be subject to clinical trial outcomes on the safety and effectiveness of each candidate, and approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. Agreements strengthen Australia's position to provide access to safe and effective vaccines as soon as available for those that wish to vaccinate against COVID-19. We've invested more than $3.3 billion across five separate agreements with local and international pharmaceutical companies. We're contributing significantly to vaccine development both in Australia and around the world, investing $96 million into COVID related vaccines, therapeutics and further preparedness. When they become available, these vaccines will protect Australia's most vulnerable. On 19 August 2020, the Prime Minister announced that COVID-19 vaccines will be available, free, to every Australian.

This government, the Morrison government, has stood up when we've needed to do so, whether it be in health; whether it be the leadership of Greg Hunt as the Minister for Health; whether it be the Treasurer; whether it be the Minister for Families and Social Services and the support that we're giving through the automatic stabilisers in our economy to provide support to those vulnerable Australians. We've seen the opposition, again, talking down Australia, again, talking down Australians. We've seen what I can only describe as an audition from the member for Maribyrnong today. Those behind him were watching very intently in relation to his performance—some perhaps moved, some perhaps inspired, some perhaps weighing up decisions that they may or may not have to make over the coming weeks—including the member for Dobell. We are confronted by an opposition that is always willing to play the class war, as the member for Maribyrnong has done and has failed to do so previously, while we remain a government that is focused on the wellbeing of Australians. We remain a government that is focused on supporting Australians at the times when they need it and we will continue to do so.

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