Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Families and Social Services (Senator Ruston) and the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians (Senator Colbeck) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today relating to the administration of the Social Services portfolio.

This afternoon's question time shows very much that Australians who rely on the government cannot rely on them. We have here, in all the answers in this question time, an absolute demonstration of the abject failure of this government to stand up for the needs of pensioners, people on Newstart and people who rely on aged care, including home care.

The government cannot own up to the fact that it has attacked pensioners in every budget since 2014. In all budgets since 2014, the government has included cuts to the pension. We have a Prime Minister who is determined to cut the pension and to increase the pension age, forcing farmers, bricklayers and nurses to work until they are 70. Equally, this government doesn't want to be seen to let the truth stand in the way of a good front page. They had the gall to promise needy and vulnerable Australians a boost of up to $800 in their pension and put that on the front page of the paper, then found—surprise, surprise!—the money is not there at all.

How many pensioner couples of Australia's 2½ million pensioners got anything like $800?

Well, you had to get called out on that, didn't you, to own up to the fact that, actually, documents released under FOI show that, on average, seniors secure just $5 a week for singles. With the change of deeming rates, the average windfall for age pensioners is just $249 for singles, a fraction of the $800 pensioner bonus heralded across the front pages of Australia's papers in July. Now, the gall of this kind of false spruiking by the government is pretty incredible, given that the nature of the front pages really didn't make it clear to Australian pensioners that unless they actually had investments they weren't going to see a cent of that increase in funding, because it is just a change in the deeming rate, let alone that if the government had wanted to correct deeming rates so that it could put $800 back into the pockets of Australian pensioners who have investments it could have changed the deeming rate more substantially in order to create an adjustment that was a true reflection of that.

But, no, that is not what the government did. The government made measly changes to the deeming rate that aren't a true reflection of the rates of return that pensioners are likely to be receiving currently. If you've got an investment of up to $51,000 then the government is currently deeming that you will get a return of more than one per cent on that investment even though many, many pensioners will not be seeing returns of anything like that, let alone getting a return of more than three per cent on investments of over $50,000. The government knew that all along when it made these announcements. In order for pensioners to get $800 back, the government would have had to make far more substantial changes to the deeming rates, so it is incredibly galling that all this government can do, for all of its rhetoric about standing by Australians who need its support, is spew out measly weasel words and false promises. It does nothing but cut all of its delivery.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to take note of the answers given by Senators Ruston and Colbeck. I think what is really galling here today, Senator Pratt—through you, Madam Deputy President—is that the Labor Party has forgotten so quickly the decision of the Australian people just a few short weeks ago. One of the key issues that addressed the minds of the voters of Australia, particularly the older voters of Australia, was: between those opposite and those on this side, who could be trusted to look after older Australians? I think that the people of Australia answered pretty decisively on that particular issue. They answered quietly but decisively.

Senator McGrath interjecting—

Senator McGrath, I will accept that interjection. We on this side will not be lectured by those whose policies sought to take to the Australian people an additional tax burden of $387 billion, including taxes directly targeting retirees. That was an absolute disgrace.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) | Link to this | Hansard source

We're talking about pensioners here!

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection, Senator Pratt, and I will get to pensions. Just hold your horses; I will get to pensions. Let's talk about pensions for a little bit, and I'll get to deeming rates as well if I've got time. From 20 September 2019, pensions increased by $125 a fortnight for singles and $188 a fortnight for couples. Since the coalition was elected in 2013, pensions have been indexed twice yearly—something those opposite seem to have forgotten, though it has been going on for a little while now—and they continue to grow in line with that indexation. But that is not all this government is doing to assist older Australians with the cost-of-living pressures that we know are very real. In fact, $46.8 billion has been provided in financial assistance to older Australians, and this will increase to over $53 billion by 2021-22.

What else is this government doing to assist older Australians? There is $365 million allocated over two years, from 2018-19, for an energy assistance payment to five million income support recipients—$75 for singles and $62 each for eligible members of a couple. And, of course, there's the deeming rates issue. The minister, on 14 July, announced a reduction in the deeming rates. This reduction ensures that those rates are responsive to changing economic conditions and the current economic environment. A million Australians will benefit from a $600 million boost to pensions. They will receive up to, and I repeat 'up to'—and this was always very clear—$1,053 for couples and $804 for singles each year. 'Up to' are two very simple words, but two very simple words that those opposite don't seem to understand.

We are about ensuring our welfare system, our support for all Australians in need of assistance, including our pensioners, is sustainable into the future. Social security and welfare were a cost to the taxpayer of $172 billion in the 2018-19 financial year. This is not an amount that can be ignored. It is a very significant part of the budget and a very significant amount of money. This government takes its responsibilities to all those who receive government assistance, but particularly to pensioners, very seriously. We will continue to do the right thing by older Australians, because this is a government that knows how to manage money, knows how to balance its budgets and knows how to provide the assistance that older Australians need.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

After six long years of a Liberal government, what have we got with the aged-care sector? It is broken. Why is the aged-care sector broken? It's because the Prime Minister, as Treasurer, cut, cut, cut the aged-care sector. After three failed ministers, we have seen a royal commission being called to look into the aged-care sector. This is a government that had to call a royal commission into its own failing.

What did we see on display here in question time today? We had the fourth minister for aged care fail to even comprehend, let alone answer, the very simple question about whether or not there are 129,000 older Australians waiting for their aged-care packages. We've also had the figure of some 16,000 older Australians who have died while they've been waiting for their approved aged-care package. This is such an indictment on this government.

We had a Prime Minister, after he was elected, telling the Australian people that aged care was a priority for his government. When are we going to see some action? It is not good enough to call a royal commission into the aged-care sector and wait till 2020 for their report to start doing something. We've had some 16 reports into the aged-care sector, and each and every one of those is sitting, now on Senator Colbeck's desk, gathering dust, because they have failed to act.

We don't need a royal commission to understand what the challenges are in this sector. We all know them. Senator Duniam is looking at me very blankly, but he was on a committee where he heard the evidence. He heard the evidence of the crisis that's facing the aged-care sector. We have a workforce shortage. We don't have enough people wanting to work in this sector, because they are not paid enough and they are not getting respect. What does this government do? They throw their hands in the air and say, 'It's not our problem; it's the sector's problem.' It's about time the Liberal government, under Mr Morrison, started to show some leadership in this sector. Older Australians deserve it. They deserve our respect. Those that work in this sector deserve our respect. These are some of the most vulnerable people in our country, and what has this government done? Absolutely nothing.

Senator Colbeck comes from my home state of Tasmania. We have the oldest and most rapidly ageing population in the country, with some of the worst health conditions, and what did we have demonstrated in this place today in question time? Disinterest. How could he not know how many people are waiting for their home care package? It's just beyond belief that a new minister wouldn't have the brief from his own department to understand what the major issues are with his responsibility.

We on this side have had as a priority for more than a dozen years that we needed to work together. We have offered countless times to work with the government, because all they've been able to do is produce three failed ministers. They can't even have the Minister for Aged Care and Older Australians in their cabinet. In the last Labor government, we had a cabinet minister with that responsibility. That's how seriously we took this policy area.

Older Australians deserve a lot more than a Prime Minister who tells the Australian people: 'I'm going to be a Prime Minister of love. What Australians need is more love.' Well, that love should start here with older Australians. Those opposite should be hanging their heads in shame, because it is clearly not good enough. And not one senator on that side can stand up and defend their record: three failed ministers. One new minister that comes from Tasmania and who should know intimately the issues facing older Tasmanians failed to answer the simplest of questions. Imagine if we started asking him some difficult questions. I mean, believe you me, I hope I get the opportunity to ask more questions, because the Australian people need to know that they have been absolutely conned by those people on that side. If the Prime Minister's actions and his new minister go anywhere to demonstrate the priority that they give to older Australians, they should hang their heads in shame. (Time expired)

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It is Senator Polley and the Labor opposition who fail to comprehend. The minister himself answered: over 97 per cent of senior Australians waiting for a package at their assessed level have been offered support from the Commonwealth government. That's not difficult to understand. The list of people waiting has gone down by seven per cent in just three months. That's a great effort by the minister. What a great effort. New home care packages have increased from just 60,308 places under Labor in 2012-13. They are now up to 124,000 and by 2022-23 they'll be up to 157,000—an increase of 161 per cent. And why are we not surprised that Labor can't add up here? Because they can't. It's very simple. Since the coalition government was elected, aged-care spending has increased by an average of more than eight per cent each year. That is on average a billion dollars of extra support for older Australians each year that the coalition government has been in power.

Further, there is our record on home care. Since 2017-18, the government has announced a release of over 40,000 new home care packages across all levels. This year's budget will deliver an extra 10,000 home care packages to be released across all levels at an investment of $282 million. That is thanks to the strong economic management of the coalition government. This commitment is part of the government's broader record investment in aged care that will deliver an additional $7 billion in funding over the next five years. The release of these packages in recognition of the increasing demand for home care will be in line with the available budget.

The government has also announced reductions to the maximum basic daily fee to apply from 1 July 2019. Maximum basic daily fees will reduce by $400 for level 1, $200 for level 2 and $100 for level 3. There has been no change for level 4. Home care packages are key to supporting senior Australians to remain living in their home, yet they do not replace primary care as part of the broader health system, including services accessed via general practices and hospitals. The coalition government has increased health funding to my home state of Queensland by $1.8 billion over the last five years—an average of 12 per cent.

The aged-care system has mechanisms to provide support to those in urgent need of home care packages, ensuring that people with high priority can get access to a home care package or other supports when required. As at September this year, based on March data, there were 99,110 people in home care packages. This represents an annual increase of 14,000, or about 17 per cent, since 31 March 2018. The number of people in a high-level—levels 3 and 4—home care package as at March 2019 was around 45,000, which is 22,000 more people, almost 100 per cent more, than there were in March 2017. In 2017-18, 116,843 people accessed a home care package, which means approximately 1.3 people accessed each available package. This reflects those entering and exiting care over time. By 2021-22, over 74,000 high-level home care packages will be available—an increase of 86 per cent on 2017-18 figures. Of the 119,000 people who were waiting for a home care package at their approved level as at 30 June, 2019, 97 per cent had been approved with the opportunity to connect to Commonwealth subsidised aged-care support.

Labor must be once bitten, twice shy. They have come into this chamber today pretending to be the friend of senior Australians. They have apparently learnt the very harsh lesson handed to them at the recent unlosable election under the former Leader of the Opposition.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers to questions asked by Senators Keneally, Brown and Polley regarding the government's record on the age pension and older Australians. What a terrible record it is. In answer to the question, 'Since 2014, how many budgets have included cuts to the pension?' Minister Ruston said the government has, and I quote, 'a very proud record of looking after older Australians'. She said that this government could be 'trusted to look after older Australians'. But in fact this is a government that has consistently planned to increase the age for receipt of the age pension to 70. This is a government that wants older Australians to work till the age of 70 before they can access the age pension.

When asked about this, Minister Ruston said this is a government that is 'looking after older Australians' and that this is a government that 'backs older Australians.' Let's take a look at how the government has backed older Australians, how it's looked after older Australians. Let's look at its proud record for older Australians. We got no answer to Senator Brown's question about how many pensioners will get the promised boost to pensions of $800 due to deeming rate changes. Of the 2.5 million pensioners, less than one per cent will get that promised amount; 99 per cent won't get that promised $800. Minister Ruston cannot explain how that fact backs older Australians. This government has tried to cut the pension in every one of its budgets. And of course we have a minister who earlier this year famously called the pension 'generous'.

What about Minister Colbeck's comments on the more than 129,000 older Australians who are waiting for a home care package? These people who are in desperate and genuine need right now, today. The minister had no answer for them whatsoever. He had no answer for those 129,000 Australians who are in desperate need right now, today. They, and all Australians, deserve answers to these questions. Those Australians deserve answers on all those questions.

Let's have a look at this government's 'proud record' in backing older Australians. In fact, this third-term coalition government has not backed older Australians. It has attacked older Australians. Their record really says it all. Since being elected in 2013 they have tried to cut pension indexation, which would force pensioners to live on just $80 a week within 10 years. That is if they had been successful. They did cut $1 billion from pension concessions—concessions that had helped pensioners with the cost of living. They did cut the $900 senior supplements card for self-funded retirees. They've tried to cut the pension for those going overseas, which would have left 190,000 pensioners worse off. And they did cut the pension for 370,000 pensioners by changing the assets test. Those pensioners lost up to $12,000 a year.

They've also tried to cut the energy supplement for new pensioners, a supplement meant to help older Australians keep themselves warm in winter and cool in summer. Again, this is a government with a 'proud record'; this is a government that 'backs older Australians'; this is a government that older Australians 'can count on'. On top of all of this, they've spent five years trying to increase the pension age to 70.

The record is pretty clear: this government does not respect older Australians. On its own record, this is not a government that backs older Australians. This is not a government that has a proud record for older Australians, as it claimed today.

Question agreed to.