Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform. Will the minister outline to the House how the government is helping Australian families make ends meet? How is this support being delivered and what would be the impact of withdrawing it?

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Newcastle for her question. As she knows, this Labor government is all about giving back to ordinary Australian families. We are making sure that we help those families make ends meet.

I can inform the House that in the last couple of weeks around 1.6 million Australian families have received payments to help them with their bills and to help them over coming months. This week families will start receiving the schoolkids bonus. It will go straight into their bank accounts and make sure that families get the help that they need with the costs of educating their children.

What we know is that it is important to also give support to pensioners, and so for those who are on the pension we have had around 3.2 million Australian pensioners also get increases straight into their bank accounts over the last few weeks. If you are a single pensioner, you would have received $250, and $380 for couples combined, so that is already providing extra help for those pensioners. This, of course, is on top of the historic increases that this government has provided to Australian pensioners of around $150 a fortnight, making a huge difference to the needs of pensioners. From March next year, we will be providing ongoing and regular increases to pensioners.

For a family that is on around $75,000 a year with two primary school-age children, this will mean that they will get around $1,000 in tax cuts and increased payments. For this family with two primary school-age children, they will also receive the schoolkids bonus and increases in family payments next year.

What we know is that this Liberal Party is hell-bent on clawing this money back from families and pensioners. We already see it in Victoria, where the Liberal government is clawing back their school start bonus. We know Barry O'Farrell is doing the same to pensioners in public housing: clawing back the pension increase and forcing up public housing rents. We know that this Leader of the Opposition is going to do exactly the same: claw back the pension increase and claw back the family payment increase—just like his Liberal colleagues in New South Wales and Victoria.

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

Madam Deputy Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.