Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks so much, Member for Macquarie. Of course, we're a Labor government—we want people who can work to work. It's good for them and it's good for the economy. But, when people can't work or when they're retired, we need a social security system that supports them to live with dignity. That's why I'm so pleased that, on 20 September, more than five million social security recipients will see a boost in their bank accounts—up to almost $30 a fortnight for single age pensioners. That'll help with everyday costs like groceries and health care, and it includes more than 21,000 age pensioners and job seekers in the electorate of Macquarie.

The changes on 20 September mean the full age pension will go up almost $30 a fortnight. That means that a full age pensioner will be about $5,000 a year better off since Labor came to government. JobSeeker will go up by around $4,000 a year since we came to government. Commonwealth rent assistance has increased by around 50 per cent, so someone paying, say, 400 bucks a week in rent now gets about $1,800 a year more in rent assistance. And, of course, there's electricity bill support. People on the minimum wage are $9,000 a year better off. Changes to paid parental leave mean more time, more people receiving it and more money. In fact, a parent is about $12,000 better off now with paid parental leave than when we came to government—for each child.

There are tax cuts for every taxpayer, averaging $2½ thousand. There have been 650,000 fee-free TAFE enrolments. We've cut student debt by around 20 per cent. That's about $5½ thousand in relief on average. And, of course, the Minister for Housing's $43 billion Homes for Australia plan includes five per cent deposits that have helped, up till now, about 180,000 first home buyers enter into the market, and she's already built around 5,000 extra social and affordable homes. Cheaper child care means around a million families are better off, cutting out-of-pocket costs for a typical family with a child in full-time care by about $7,000 a year. Cheaper medicines have saved around $1½ billion so far—and counting. And, of course, there's more bulk-billing, and 90 Medicare urgent care clinics are open already, with another 47 to come. Our government is absolutely focused on the cost of living and making sure we deliver on our commitments, meaning more Australians earn more, keep more of what they earn and receive more if they're on the age pension.

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