Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Prime Minister for Social Inclusion) Share this | Hansard source

Perhaps I did not make myself very clear, Senator Bernardi, but I want to tell you quite specifically that the change will not apply to a claimant who has a dependent child. The change will not apply to anyone who is currently eligible for the partner service pension. The amendment to this legislation has the effect of raising the current age of 50 to qualifying age—the equivalent of the veterans pension age—for new claims made from 1 July. That means that the 900-odd people you are talking about as being affected by this are people who are 50 and who are able to actually participate in the workforce for quite some time. We do not believe that this is an unreasonable request.