Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to start my contribution to this debate on the Social Security and Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (One-off Payments and Other 2007 Budget Measures) Bill 2007 by endorsing the comments of the previous speaker. In doing so, I recognise the fine contribution of all our veterans. I acknowledge the fact that this government has not treated them fairly and that the change that is in this legislation we are debating tonight is just a very small measure, a very small step towards what should be done for Australian veterans.

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the shadow minister and the proposal that he has put forward. I would like to state my full support for the policy and program that he has announced. It is only through full indexation that we will truly be looking after our disabled veterans—people who have been prepared to put their lives on the line for our country. But tonight I would like to direct my contributions to other areas of the debate, as the area of veterans has been so ably covered by the three previous speakers.

Firstly, I would like to say that the changes have my 100 per cent support. My only comment is: this is too little too late. And there are so many people out there who are hurting that the government should be condemned for allowing a situation to develop where we have a large number of people in our community who are going without on a daily basis, whilst they cynically come in, in the shadow of an election, and throw out one-off payments.

I do not want my words to speak for the hurt that is being felt in the community; rather, I thought I would allow the words of my constituents to say what has been happening to them and just how hard they are finding it. The letter that I am going to start with will demonstrate to the parliament very graphically just how important this $500 will be to one pensioner in the electorate of Shortland. This constituent is a lady for whom I have written some letters in relation to the increased costs in the PBS, and she talks about new increases and cutbacks. I will come in on her letter at the point where she says:

... it is a sad, sick & sorry joke that we only receive $500 per fortnight—which covers [prescriptions] & yesterday I had to pay $26.40 for my fortnightly necessities—so little food till next pension day.

‘... so little food till next pension day’.

I had a fire in my flat (stove & range hood are to be replaced, thank the Lord), and this added to my stress—I am having counselling for shock, trauma, emotional exhaustion & “shot to smithereens nerves” ...

That is just a disgrace. She has been rejected by charities and she has been begging for money, just to pay for the necessities of daily life. No matter what she does, nothing seems to help. She says:

It is quite disgusting & deplorable that the Government have taken away our rights & not [given] us more money to meet our increasing costs as our pensions shrink—no integrity, diplomacy or dignity left & these ever increasing insults are totally unacceptable, “beyond the pale”, NOT Australian and leave everything to be desired.

She goes on a little more in her letter about her problems. She talks about how she has tried to secure food vouchers and how she is trying to manage to get her stove and other whitegoods fixed, and asks me to give her a contribution. And, of course, I will help her out. But I think it is very sad that, in our society, we have a situation where people are suffering in that way. She is just someone’s mum, an ordinary pensioner, who is doing it hard. And I know that she will really welcome the $500 that she will be eligible for. But it should never have gone on that long. She should never have been in a situation where she was forced—forced—to write a begging letter like that to a member of parliament.

I have recently surveyed my electorate. What came out very clearly in those surveys was the battle that pensioners are having on a day-to-day basis to survive. The three most important issues relate to increased petrol prices—and the impact that has on their ability to survive—health and dental costs. In this particular survey my constituent said, ‘Pensions do not cover increases of daily living.’ The next one refers to the price of petrol and how the price of everything in life is increasing. I have another one in which they refer to the impact that petrol prices have had on their ability to pay for things. This demonstrates how much this $500 bonus is needed. I would now like to quote a pensioner in my electorate: ‘I only go to doctors when it is absolutely urgent because I can’t find the $52 I need to pay the doctor.’ Another one wrote, ‘High price of fruit and vegetables—inflation rate is a joke.’ Another constituent wrote: ‘With two living on a pension’—and I think this is a very important comment—‘it only takes one illness on top of a chronic illness to wreck the budget.’ And from another constituent:

The pension will only stretch so far then savings and superannuation have to be used—once they have run out—who knows?

I will not read the next one because it is quite critical of the government, and I think I have adequately made my point. I wholeheartedly embrace the fact that money is going to our pensioners. But I do implore the government to be a little kinder, a little more aware that it is not only when an election is called but at all times that pensioners are doing it hard.

I am very pleased to see in this legislation that the government have rectified a problem that arose a few years back when they failed to pay $25,000 to veterans who were prisoners of war in Europe during World War II, yet they paid $25,000 to those veterans who were interred in Japanese prison camps. I think this rectifies a mistake that occurred back then. It caused great division within the veterans community. I support that inclusion in the budget.

One thing I am very upset about is that disability support pensioners have been ignored. To demonstrate the impact this has had, I would like to refer to three people who rang my office today. For the benefit of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, we have had a number of phone calls in our office today from people who are very disturbed about that. One young girl does some volunteer work in my office. She had a brain tumour and had it removed. She is quite disabled. She has a lovely personality and tries very hard. But she was so angry that she is not to be treated in the same way that aged pensioners and retirees are. She feels that her needs are just as great, and she feels that a stigma is attached to the fact that she is not being granted the same one-off payment that other pensioners are. The second person I would like to refer to is a man who rang my office. He was in tears. He cried to my staff member for four or five minutes. My staff member found it very difficult to handle. My constituent’s parting comment was, ‘What’s the point in going on? I may as well top myself.’ I am quite concerned about that person, and I am hopeful that I will be able to get in touch with him later tonight.

The government have ignored a group of people who probably have higher medical needs and higher expenses than ordinary pensioners and have refused to extend the one-off payment to them. I received another phone call in my office from a woman who asked us to send her a membership form to join the Labor Party. She was so upset that the government had decided that they would not extend the one-off payment to people on the disability support pension. Therefore, I have increased the number of branch members by one because of the government’s inaction.

There is no way I will oppose this legislation. It contains too little, it has come too late, particularly in areas relating to veterans. I am pleased about the funeral benefit being increased. It has been an issue that veterans have been most concerned about for a period of time. But I implore the government to adopt the policy as outlined by the shadow minister. It is a good policy and it recognises the needs of veterans. I hope the government finds a place in its heart to look after those people whom it has chosen to ignore in this budget. It should realise that there are many people who need the government’s assistance, not just the ones it hopes to bribe on the eve of an election.

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