Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What is the government doing to assist pensioners with cost-of-living pressures?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for that question because we on this side of the House have a proven track record in delivering support to people on low and middle incomes to make ends meet. As the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs said before, we delivered the single biggest increase in our age pension in 100 years. It is something that everybody on this side of the House is very proud of. On top of that we delivered a fair go budget, which is spreading the opportunities of the resources boom right around our country with the schoolkids bonus and increases in family payments. We are now delivering assistance particularly to pensioners with the clean energy package. As the Prime Minister said, we are delivering $250 for single pensioners and $380 for couples. That is something like $700 million which will go to more than three million pensioners in our community. On top of that, there is also additional assistance to students and job seekers that will come through in coming weeks.

In all we are putting something like $1.5 billion into the pockets of pensioners and those who are receiving clean energy assistance—and that is just the beginning. From 1 July we are tripling the tax-free threshold. This will provide tax cuts for something like seven million low- and middle-income earners in our community. Some of the oldest in our community will be the biggest winners. If you take a self-funded retiree couple with $35,000 each in private income, they will receive a tax cut of $1,500. What we are doing here is ensuring tax justice for some of those people on the lowest incomes in our community.

It is completely beyond me why the shadow Treasurer said a week or so ago that they are going to claw all those tax cuts back from something like seven million low- and middle-income earners in our community. That will be ripping $3 billion off low- and middle-income earners in our community—ripping it off the six million people out there who will get assistance that exceeds the costs that flow through from the clean energy package. Those opposite come in here day after day and claim they are concerned with the cost of living. They have policies where they are going to claw that assistance back. Indeed, the opposition leader here will claw that assistance back from the 11, 000 pensioners in his own electorate.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a supplementary question to the Treasurer. How will pensioners in electorates like mine benefit from this support?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for her question because there will be something like 22,600 pensioners in the electorate of Petrie that will receive this support—22,000 of them—and that is something we are very proud of. This will be an advance in that electorate of something like $5 million—$250 for singles and $380 for couples. When this is permanent, from March next year, it will be $338 for singles and $510 for couples. I know the member for Petrie is very proud that that assistance is being paid into that electorate, unlike those opposite who want to rip it back from all of the pensioners in their electorates.