Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

The Social Security and Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (One-off Payments and Other 2007 Budget Measures) Bill 2007 provides a one-off, non-taxable bonus payment of $500 to each person qualified for utilities allowance or seniors concession allowance on budget night. Labor supports this one-off bonus payment to these concession card holders because they certainly deserve this money, and many of them are struggling to make ends meet. The bill will provide $500 before the end of this financial year to all age pensioners and to those self-funded retirees earning less than $50,000 for singles or $80,000 for couples combined.

We certainly support this initiative. We know that there have been significant increases in the cost of living, and I am sure that, when all members of parliament are out in our shopping centres talking with constituents, they hear on a regular basis how difficult it is for seniors, in particular, to make ends meet given the ongoing rises in food prices. In the last quarter, in March food prices rose by 4.6 per cent. This was particularly due to increases in fruit prices, which rose by almost 15 per cent. It is not surprising that we often hear from seniors in our electorates about how difficult it is for them to manage. The price of petrol and other very important utilities and basics that people need just to manage from week to week have also risen.

We also know that our seniors provide the backbone for many of the voluntary organisations in our community and spend a lot of their own money, especially on petrol, going to help out those in even greater need in our community, visiting and providing support for the very aged and for others who are on their own. This $500 payment will provide that extra bit of help that I am sure the recipients will appreciate. The payment will also go to those of service pension age receiving, as I mentioned, the utilities allowance or the seniors concessional allowance and to those receiving the mature age allowance, the widows allowance and the partner allowance. All of those people will receive the payment before the end of June.

This bill also provides payments to a wide range of  carers. We know that in many circumstances they too are working extremely hard to care for their loved ones. A payment of $1,000 will be made to carers who are currently receiving the carer payment. Recipients of the carer allowance will receive a payment of $600 for every eligible care receiver. In addition to the $600 carer allowance bonus, recipients of the carer allowance who also receive the wife pension or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs partner service pension will receive a payment of $1,000. The last three budgets have provided similar one-off lump sum bonuses to eligible carers. We certainly welcome these payments because we know that, as with seniors, many carers are finding it difficult to make ends meet—and, of course, it is very hard for them to find time to be able to earn any money. We know that they also have significant extra costs because of their caring responsibilities.

I am sure that I speak for all members of parliament when I say that many carers feel that their work is undervalued. I think people often feel that way because, in the vast majority of cases, their work is carried out behind closed doors, in people’s homes. I do not think they feel that they are well understood. Also, an increasing number of women aged between 35 and 54—often called the ‘sandwich generation’—are being asked to provide most of the care needed by their children and by frail older people who are, most often, related to them. We do have a rapidly ageing population in Australia, so we can only expect that the number of people who will need to be cared for in this way will increase. There are about 2.6 million carers in Australia. I hope that the support that this bill will provide to them will give them the recognition that they deserve and that bit of extra relief to help them meet the heavy load that they carry.

A major study done in 2006, called the AMP.NATSEM study, found that the average carer is $5,600 worse off each year compared with someone with no caring responsibilities. We also know that one in every seven Australians is providing primary or informal care for an older frail relative or one with a disability. As I mentioned before, most of that burden is still falling on women. The report also goes into the expectation that these responsibilities will increase as the population ages. This will happen at the same time that we see an increase in the need for women to participate in the workforce, which is also related to the ageing of the population. The responsibilities that those women will have to carry—workforce responsibilities and caring responsibilities for their children and ageing parents—are likely to increase. We also know that carers are more often than not family members and that it is often the case that the carer is an elderly person themselves. I certainly know from my own family’s circumstances that that can be an enormous responsibility as well as a very heavy load. Carers are doing this day in and day out—and often during the night as well when it involves the support of someone who is frail or ill.

The bill also contains a number of measures to support veterans and war widows and widowers, and I want to go through each of those. Schedule 5 of the bill will make one-off payments on 1 January 2007 to Australian former prisoners of war in Europe or their surviving widows. We certainly welcome this initiative. I notice that the Labor shadow minister is at the table, and he will strongly endorse my remarks that this payment is long overdue. Unfortunately, the government left these Australian prisoners of war from Japan and Korea out of the first two ex gratia payments in 2001 and 2004. I am pleased to see that that oversight has now been rectified.

The bill will also increase the maximum funeral benefit from $1,000 to $2,000 for eligible veterans under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986. Once again, we welcome this initiative. We know—my colleague at the table is very well aware of this—that the funeral benefit has been a longstanding concern in the veterans community, and this initiative is certainly a step in the right direction.

The bill will also increase the veterans disability pension for special rate and intermediate rate recipients by $50 and $25 a fortnight respectively from 3 July 2007. This will benefit around 29,600 veterans who receive either the special rate or the intermediate rate of disability pension because their injuries or diseases related to war or defence service on behalf of Australia limit their earning capacity. Once again, we welcome this catch-up payment. It was needed to address the erosion of these pensions that, under the Howard government, has occurred since 1997. It is unfortunate that the government has not taken this opportunity to fix the indexation of these pensions.

By contrast—and this is a very important contrast between the Howard government and the Labor opposition—Labor has already committed to properly indexing these pensions in the same way that the age pension is indexed. I call on the government to follow Labor’s lead to make sure that these people do not fall behind in the way they have over the last few years. It is unfortunate that the government did not include extreme disablement adjustment pension recipients in this catch-up budget. As I am sure everybody in this House knows, these veterans fought in World War II, Korea and Malaya and suffer from severe disabilities. Unfortunately, it seems that once again they have been ignored by the government.

War widows who claim a pension following the death of their spouse will now receive an additional three months to claim a backdated war widow’s pension. Once again, we think this is a good move. From 1 July 2007, war widows who claim the pension within six months of their spouse’s death will have their pension backdated to the time of death, recognising that the death of a spouse in this situation is extremely difficult. This provision gives our war widows time to come to terms with all the things they need to do following a very painful and difficult event.

Labor have been calling on the government to address the erosion of our most severely disabled war veterans pensions. I want to inform the House about the dimension of the loss that these pensioners have faced because of the government’s refusal to properly index their pensions. Over the last 10 years, because these pensions are only linked to increases in the cost of living, there has in fact been a drop of over $70 a fortnight in the value of the special rate disability pension. That is a very substantial amount for people dependent upon a pension. Similarly, there has been an erosion in the value of the extreme disablement adjustment and intermediate pensions. Once again, I say to the government that, although we do support what is in this bill, it really is high time that the long-term problem of indexation of these pensions is addressed. It is only by addressing the long-term problem and making sure we have proper indexation that veterans will be given the certainty that the value of their payments will be maintained and the dignity of their circumstances will be respected.

As I said, I am very pleased we have indicated that, if we are successful at the next election, a Rudd Labor government will make sure that our most severely disabled war veterans will have their pensions adjusted to take account of not just the cost of living but also the standard of living. A Labor government will make sure that these veterans will no longer have to depend on the government delivering the sorts of ad hoc, catch-up payments that we are debating today. If Labor is successful at the next election, future increases that account for both increases in the cost of living and the standard of living will be automatic under Labor. Indexation is the only long-term solution to maintain the true value of veterans pensions.

In 1997, when the Howard government indexed a range of other pensions, they left out the above general rate disability pensions. Since that time there has been an erosion of the value of these pensions compared to pensions in the broader community—for example, in 1997 the special rate disability pension represented 46.3 per cent of male total average weekly earnings. On the most recent figures available, it now represents only 42.9 per cent. The government provided only partial indexation in 2004, and that was in response to sustained protest from the veteran community. Unfortunately, it was only a bandaid solution, and tonight we are debating another catch-up rather than a long-term solution. We certainly do not want to treat our most severely disabled war veterans in this way. Labor wants to give war veterans security for the future.

To be very specific about what we intend to do: if we are successful at the next election, Labor will restore the value of the special rate disability pension, the intermediate rate and the extreme disablement adjustment pensions by indexing the whole of these pensions to movements in male total average weekly earnings or the consumer price index, whichever is greater. This will benefit more than 43,000 war veterans with disabilities. On current projections, over the first four years after implementation, the recipients of these pensions will be $1,700 better off, with their pensions building to $30 a fortnight more than they would otherwise have been. The announcement certainly concerns the most severely disabled of our war veterans. They include those who fought and served in conflicts including World War II, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, the Gulf War, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, we are already seeing veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan needing assistance. As of December 2006, eight soldiers who served in Afghanistan and two from Iraq would be affected by Labor’s commitment. I certainly hope we are able to deliver that increase as a result of being successful at the next election.

As I am sure everybody here knows, our veterans have paid a very high price for their service to our country, and this really is about fixing an injustice. Once again, I want to give credit to our shadow minister. A lot of people at my recent Anzac Day service at the repatriation hospital in Melbourne said to me how grateful they were for the way in which the member for Bruce has been willing to listen and to convince our colleagues about the importance of this measure. I know how much it is appreciated by veterans. I think that would apply not just to people in my electorate but to people right around Australia.

I just want to say in summary that we support these payments. We think that they are very important and we want them to get into the hands of the carers, seniors and veterans as quickly as possible. However, it is unfortunate, given that the bill has been brought in so quickly, that the financial impact statement contained in the explanatory memorandum does not give any indication of departmental costs associated with the payments. I would just say to the minister that when he is summing up this debate—we obviously do not want to hold up the legislation; we think it is very important—these matters nevertheless need to be dealt with properly, because the parliament needs to know about these costs. In this bill, there are also very wide powers given to the minister to make administrative arrangements for these payments by legislative instruments. Once again, I think these issues need to be properly explained when the legislation comes into the parliament. I will finish by reiterating Labor’s strong support for these payments. We know that, for many seniors, carers and veterans, life is pretty tough. It is hard for them to make ends meet, and I know any support will be very gratefully received.

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