Belinda Neal (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Will the minister outline how the government’s Economic Security Strategy will deliver extra support to pensioners, carers and working families and any response to that support?

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

I thank the member for Robertson for her question. As she knows, there are more than 27,000 pensioners and 11,000 families in her electorate who are going to benefit from the government’s Economic Security Strategy. Pensioners, carers and disability support pensioners are all going to get a helping hand in the lead-up to Christmas. Four million pensioners, in fact, and 1.9 million families will all get some extra help from the $10.4 billion extra that is going into the economy. This will be $4.8 billion as a down payment on pension reform through lump sum payments to pensioners. That will mean $1,400 each for single pensioners and $2,100 for pensioner couples. It will apply to those on the age pension, disability support pensioners, carer payment recipients, wife and widow pensioners, partners, veterans and self-funded retirees holding a Commonwealth seniors health card. All of these people will receive a payment from 8 December. People who are receiving the carer allowance will also get $1,000 for each eligible person that they are caring for.

Unlike those opposite, we will not be pitting pensioner groups against each other. We certainly will not be excluding two million carers, people with disabilities or pensioner couples. We recognise that all of these people are doing it tough. For the first time, disability support pensioners will be getting a lump sum payment. This strategy, which will be introduced into the parliament this afternoon, will bring new spending on pensioners to $12.3 billion since the last election. As I said before, one of the most important things is that this is a down payment on our pension reforms for the future, intended to provide the additional support that pensioners need and that they have been waiting for for a very long time, in the nine months between now and when long-term reforms are introduced from the next financial year.

It is also the case that, as a result of this package, Australian families who are under significant pressure will get some extra help. Families who are receiving family tax benefit part A will get a one-off payment of $1,000 for each eligible child in their care. That will mean extra money for around four million children in Australia before Christmas. There are about 190,000 families with dependent children who receive youth allowance, Abstudy or a benefit from the veterans’ children scheme, and they also will receive the $1,000 payment.

There have certainly been a lot of groups indicating their support for the government’s strategy. The Fair Go for Pensioners Coalition has said that this is very welcome news that builds confidence and security amongst pensioners and seniors. Those from disability organisations have recognised that this is much needed assistance at a particularly vulnerable time for pensioners. They have also said that it goes some way towards addressing the neglect of the previous federal government over the past 10 years. Carers Australia have said that they are very pleased to see that the government has listened and is now taking real action. They also said that this is an important victory for those left out of previous proposals and that this extra money will provide desperately needed relief for Australia’s hardest working families. That is certainly the case for those who are doing the very tough job of caring.

Of course, the responses that we get from these groups representing carers, people with a disability and families is that they all understand what the government is doing. What is not clear is what the opposition believe. We had the Leader of the Opposition on 14 October saying that the opposition were not going to argue or quibble with the government’s proposal. It seems to be the case that the Leader of the Opposition cannot hold onto a position for more than a day and some people say he cannot even hold onto one for an even shorter period than that. But, in this case, on 14 October he was in full support with no quibbling. The next day—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hockey interjecting

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

I have no idea what the member for North Sydney thinks either—whether he supports the proposal or not. One day later the Leader of the Opposition said, ‘We would no doubt have designed it differently.’ All we got from the opposition in the past was that they were going to exclude carers, people on the disability support pension and pensioner couples. They will get the opportunity in the House this week to indicate whether or not they are going to support this package. They can either provide the support that families, people on disability support pensions, carers, coupled pensioners and single pensioners need or continue to do what they have been doing and play politics instead of what the government intends to do and provide the support that these people deserve.