Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, 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 to the House the significance of the support for Australian families and pensioners in the government's Clean Energy Future plan? What would be the impact on families and pensioners if this support was cut?

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 Kingston for her question and for her commitment to a clean energy future. She understands, as her South Australian colleagues understand, just how important it is for Australia's future—particularly for the future of our children—that this legislation is now through the House of Representatives and will mean that we will have a price on carbon from 1 July next year.

Of course, because we are a Labor government, we will make sure that pensioners and families get the support that they need to make sure they get help to balance their household budgets. We have made sure that before 1 July next year pensioners and families receiving payments will receive a lump sum—that will happen before 1 July next year—and nine out of 10 households will get help to balance their household budgets.

As the House knows, because of the actions of this side of the parliament, 3.4 million pensioners will not only get the lump sum before 1 July next year but also get an ongoing increase in their pension. What all of these pensioners and all of the families on payments need to know is that every single one of the members of the Liberal and National parties voted no yesterday to stop these increases in payments and to stop the increases in pensions that the parliament will now deliver.

And, of course, the Leader of the Opposition has told us that he is going to roll back these changes. The reality for families and pensioners is that this will mean that this Leader of the Opposition will be increasing taxes and clawing back pension rises and clawing back payments to families. Families also know that they are going to be slugged by the Leader of the Opposition, who is going to impose on each and every family another $1,300 that he is then going to pay to polluters. That is what the Leader of the Opposition wants to do.

This has all been confirmed very loudly and very proudly by the member for North Sydney. This morning on Radio National he said: 'These are not real pension increases.' They might not be real pension increases to the member for North Sydney but they most certainly are for the more than 10,000 pensioners in North Sydney—10,000 pensioners in North Sydney who are going to have their money clawed back as a result of this Leader of the Opposition.