Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

We are dealing with the issue of one-off payments to carers who look after people with disabilities. Given the comments of the honourable member opposite, this could not be more pertinent to the issue of helping people with disabilities—who have been totally neglected by state premiers and ministers. I wrote to each of the state ministers. Not one of them has responded. So I wrote again today to the state ministers and said, ‘You have one month to put an offer on the table of how you will meet, as states and territories, the responsibility of providing respite care and supported accommodation for people with disabilities; and the Commonwealth will consider a dollar-for-dollar funding arrangement.’

The Commonwealth will not run away from the needs of people with disabilities. We will not hide behind the fact that the states have failed these people miserably; we will stand up for them. We should be trying to do this in a way which is bipartisan with state and territory governments. Minister Della Bosca wrote to some Liberal senators, and I got the letters. He said, ‘Why doesn’t the Commonwealth enter into a dollar-for-dollar arrangement like we did for young people in nursing homes.’ That is the exact point I made to his disabilities minister. So Minister Della Bosca from New South Wales, your own home state, agrees. All we want is for people to get on and actually do something positive. So can you please take that back? I would be delighted if you would.

The members opposite made a lot of the fact that pensioners do not have enough money. If it had not been for the Commonwealth introducing twice-yearly indexation and linking the aged pension to not only CPI but also wages, because wages have gone up 20 per cent under this government, pensioners today would be $66.20 a fortnight worse off on the single rate. That is how much better they are off per fortnight on the single rate as a result of our decision to formally link it to 25 per cent of MATWE. The Labor Party never did that. We are providing not only those additional income streams every fortnight but also, because the economy has been run in a strong and responsible way and because we want people who are no longer in the workforce to be able to participate in the wealth of this nation, $1,000 for couples and $500 for individuals. Yet those opposite come in here and whinge. It did not happen in 13 years of Labor government. My bet is that, with their irresponsible way of running an economy, it would not happen if they were ever re-elected.

These measures today go to the heart of a compassionate government providing support when you can afford it directly to those who need it the most. For argument’s sake, let us remember the $25,000 one-off compensation payment paid to our civilian and war internees interned by enemy forces in Europe and our veterans who were prisoners of war. This followed on from the heartfelt and warmly appreciated $25,000 paid previously to those who were POWs of the Japanese. You and I both know very well, because I know that both of our electorates have very large veterans communities, that this will be welcomed not only directly by those individuals but also by the wider community. They know the pain that those people went through, and that pain and suffering has been recognised in this very practical way.

The one-off payments, as I have said, are responsible. They are responsible because it is money that the government has not had to borrow. Running a strong economy with two million more Australians in work, and therefore fewer outgoings in the form of welfare payments, and not having to pay $8.5 billion in interest on accumulated debt that the lot opposite ran up when they were in government means that that is money you can return to people who need it. I know that many in my electorate and in the electorates of all honourable members, regardless of which side of the chamber they come from, will greatly appreciate these payments.

This bill also increases, through the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986, the maximum amount of funeral benefit payable from $1,000 to $2,000. The doubling of that benefit will be a great comfort to, and the contribution to the funeral will be greatly appreciated by, family members. I applaud the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs for the wonderful work that he has done since he has taken over this portfolio in being able to secure, through this budget, an intermediate rate disability payment in the Veterans’ Entitlements Act—an increase of $25 per fortnight—and an increase of $50 per fortnight in the amount of the special rate disability pension. It will extend the maximum period for backdating of war widows or widower pensions from three to six months in certain circumstances, and the backdating rules will ensure that those dependants or veterans who are not automatically eligible for the war widows or widower pension are not financially disadvantaged during such a difficult time.

Carers really are the unsung heroes, and I am sure that is one thing both sides of this chamber will always agree on. Nothing cuts more to the quick, particularly when you sit and talk with older carers, than their fear of what will occur when they themselves are too frail and aged to look after their children. These people have given so much of their lives for the ones they care for—and they are only the older ones. There are also younger carers who have responsibility way beyond their years. We all applaud what they do. This is not, as some members so glibly put, something done in an election year. For the fourth consecutive year we have been in a position to be able to make a $1,000 one-off payment for those receiving, on the 8 May, either a social security carer payment or a veterans carer service pension. Carers receiving the non-means-tested allowance in addition to either wife pension or veterans partner service pension will also get the $1,000 one-off payment. Any carer receiving the carer allowance will be paid a separate $600 one-off payment for all eligible care receivers.

I know from personal experience, from talking to these people, how much they appreciate that and I am just so pleased that the government has been in a position—because we have a strong economy and for the reasons we have outlined of people being back in work and not having to put this money into paying off debt—where those people will benefit. I hope that we are in a position in future years to be able to continue these measures so that the money can make a difference in being able to perhaps buy some little luxury or pay off some debt like the car repair bills that come in for people who do not have the capacity—because the love and compassion they have for those they care for does not give them the time to do so. That is what being in government is really all about. It is about having an economy that allows you to deliver those dividends to everyone and to deliver them in such a way that people’s lives can be improved. It is not just those in the workforce who get the tax cuts and the improvements in wage increases. Everyone in a just society gets to benefit.

Not only do I commend this bill to the House but also I appeal to all those opposite to talk to their state and territory colleagues and to listen to what the federal government has put on the table here—the offer to help people with disabilities in the most substantial way by giving us a plan on how to provide the right sort of supported accommodation and appropriate respite care. The Commonwealth has made a commitment straight to them, looking them in the eye and in writing, that we will consider each of those state plans on a dollar-for-dollar basis. The Commonwealth is very proud of what it has been able to do in this bill, which is a measure of the success of the nation. The provisions are greatly appreciated by those people who may not be able to directly contribute through the tax system any more or through their working lives but who have done so in the past and who have done so to the best of their ability. As a result, today they share in a successful economy, of which we should all be rightly proud. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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