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

Congratulations on your re-election to this parliament, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker Sidebottom, and your election to the Speakers Panel. I know that you will shed your wisdom upon this House in that position and I look forward to speaking in the parliament with you in the chair.

The contribution by the previous speaker was quite interesting. Yes, this side of parliament are about the collective good. We care about all pensioners, all senior citizens, all veterans, all people on disability pensions and all carers. We are not about the individual; we are not about our mates, as the previous government was. One thing that was a trademark of the Howard government was the fact that it always cared about the individual as long as they were its mates. This legislation is not about the mates of the Howard government; it is about those people who look to the government for support.

The other issue that the honourable member for Mackellar raised was transport concessions and reciprocity with the states. I have to put on the record that the Howard government could never get agreement from the states. Why? Because they were locked in the blame game, they were not serious about it. All they wanted to do was have a go at the states. They would say, ‘We’ll commit this money’ and know that there was absolutely no way that they were ever going to deliver because they were too busy blaming the states for every problem that they had. I think the member for Mackellar really needs to make sure that she remembers facts as they were. As far as the Rudd government is concerned, we have made a commitment of $50 million to introduce a national seniors’ transport concession scheme for senior card holders, and that will be introduced by January 2009. The Rudd government delivers on its commitments. The Rudd government is not a government of core and non-core promises, as was the Howard government. It is a government that is very mindful of the seniors, the veterans and all of those people the Howard government made an art of doing over each and every time it introduced legislation into this parliament.

The Social Security and Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Allowances) Bill 2008 delivers on a Rudd election commitment. It delivers advantages to a large number of people throughout Australia. The Shortland electorate is the 10th oldest electorate in the whole of Australia and, as of the 2006 census, it has the 10th highest proportion of people over the age of 65. I know that over a very long period of time those people have been finding it very hard to survive under the mean-spirited Howard government that was previously on the government benches in this House. That is why this legislation will benefit the people that I represent so much. This bill increases the annual rate of the utilities allowance from $107.20 to $500 per household and provides for the allowance to be paid in $125 quarterly instalments rather than biannually. What does that mean? It means that pensioners, seniors and carers will be better able to manage their budgets. Bills for utilities actually come in quarterly, so people will not have to wait for those biannual payments to be able to pay their bills or manage their finances. The allowances are locked into the time that the bills come in. This bill extends, for the first time, the qualifications for the utilities allowance to people who are under pension age and receive a disability support pension, carer payment, wife pension, widow B pension or bereavement allowance and to people who are under the qualifying age and receive a service pension or income support supplement. I would like to concentrate on that for a little bit.

The Howard government constantly refused to acknowledge the needs of these people. Every time the Howard government introduced measures for things like one-off payments and the utilities allowance to people on disability support pensions, my office was swamped with people who were in receipt of the disability support pension and were missing out. They felt very much that they were second-class citizens. They felt that the Howard government was discriminating against them. They would tell me that they had very high needs. Quite often a person who is on a disability support pension will have to pay much higher pharmacy bills because they require pharmaceuticals to assist them in their daily lives. They have a number of extraordinary costs, as do pensioners, but the Howard government refused to acknowledge the needs of these people.

When I stood up in this parliament last year and spoke about the then government’s one-off payments and I brought this to the attention of then Minister Brough—a member who is no longer in this parliament—he stood up in this parliament and said, ‘People with disabilities have never been better off than they are under the Howard government and any problems they are having have been caused by the states.’ Isn’t that the blame game at its extreme? Firstly, he was arrogantly denying and not recognising the problems that people with disabilities have, blaming them, to a degree, for the fact that they have a disability; secondly, he was passing the blame onto the states and saying, ‘We are doing the right things; it is all the states’ fault.’ I feel that the people of Australia actually recognised the then minister’s treatment of people appropriately, and he is no longer in this House.

Under this legislation, the seniors concession allowance will increase from $218 to $500, the same as it is for pensioners. They are being brought into line. Previously pensioners were receiving $107.20 and seniors were receiving $218. So both groups will now receive $500, and I think it is appropriate that pensioners and eligible self-funded retirees should be treated the same.

The bill increases the rate of telephone allowance from $88 to $132 for certain income support recipients who have an internet connection at home. This is something that I think will be welcomed. It is available to pension-age income support recipients and to disability support pensioners—once again recognising that people with disabilities have the same needs as other pensioners—carer payment recipients and self-funded retirees who hold a Commonwealth seniors card. The internet is a very important way for people to communicate with others, and it is becoming more and more important each and every day. If a person is in some way restricted in their mobility—if they have a disability and are confined to their home, or if they are older and frail and cannot get out—the fact that they can use the internet actually brings the world into their home. So I think that this is a very important initiative. I would also like to mention the Australian seniors internet fund. The Rudd government will be establishing a $15 million seniors internet fund to establish free internet kiosks in key community locations such as senior citizens centres and neighbourhood houses Currently only one in five Australians over the age of 65 have access to the internet.

There is a very active seniors group in my electorate, at Lake Munmorah, who have developed a very popular computer club. They are constantly seeking funds to expand it because there is such demand for the internet within that area and a number of them are unable to have computers in their home. This, to me, is an example of how the Rudd Labor government’s legislation will benefit constituents in the Shortland electorate.

I would like to go through and highlight a couple of issues. Under the Howard government, senior Australians, people whom I represent in this parliament, were really suffering. The cost of living pressure facing older Australians on fixed incomes was increasing each and every day. It was only this week that a senior pensioner from Caves Beach in the Shortland electorate contacted my office and welcomed the fact that the grocery price inquiry was taking place. In Swansea there is only one supermarket and the prices there have increased by 20 per cent. She went along and spoke to the supermarket manager and was told: ‘Bad luck if you don’t like it. We are the only supermarket here; you’ve got to lump it.’

I think it is very important that we acknowledge the fact that the Rudd government are listening to the needs of people. We are actually recognising the fact that pensioners, seniors and veterans—the veterans who have fought for Australia—are doing it hard. They have done it really, really hard. It is because of that that we have made these changes. It is because of that that the transport concessions will be introduced. It is because of that that we are having the inquiry into grocery prices, and it is because of that that a petrol commissioner has been appointed.

These issues have not arisen since the election; these issues have been on the table for a very long time. And these are issues that the Howard government constantly ignored. This legislation shows the different approach of the Rudd Labor government—a government that listens to and acknowledges what seniors have contributed to Australia in the past, acknowledges the fact that people with disabilities have the right to be treated in the same way as other people and acknowledges the fact that cost of living pressures make it very hard for those people.

As I have already mentioned, this legislation delivers on key election commitments. There are no core and non-core promises. The Prime Minister has said that he will deliver on all the commitments he has made to the Australian people, and this is one of those commitments. The government has committed over $4.1 billion to deliver a plan to help make ends meet for seniors. There is a $3.7 billion utilities allowance increase. That is an increase of $500 a year for recipients. It has also been extended to recipients who were not previously entitled to it. The telephone allowance increase will have an impact on access to the internet. Once again, that is a very good initiative.

The other initiative that I think is very important is that the government is developing a new index for pensions—a basket full of goods that more accurately reflects the goods and services that a pensioner buys. There is more weighting on food and utilities and less on whitegoods. I have pensioners talking to me constantly about how the increase in grocery prices is impacting on them. They have highlighted the increase in fruit, vegetables and meat prices in particular and have indicated that quite often they are unable to afford those items. They have brought to my attention that not only are prices going up but also, while some prices may remain the same, the actual content in the package has decreased. They say a new way of looking at how the index is developed is long overdue. Once developed, this will be added as an extra element in the indexing formula so that the age pension will increase by the new pensioners basket, the overall CPI or 25 per cent of male average weekly earnings, whichever is higher. In other words, we recognise that we need to revisit this.

This is welcome legislation. It is something that the previous Howard government could have fixed, but they just ignored the needs of pensioners. They denied the fact that pensioners were doing it hard. As the then Prime Minister said, ‘Australians have never been better off than they are under the Howard government.’ I am very proud to be able to stand in this parliament today to support this legislation. It is legislation that is delivering on the Rudd government’s commitment to the Australian people at the last election. I know that I will be standing in this parliament time and time again talking on legislation that is delivering on commitments to the Australian people, because the Rudd Labor government is about delivering. The Rudd Labor government is not about weasel words; it is not about moving away from the commitments it has made. It is not about core and non-core promises. It is about delivering to the Australian people. I support the legislation before us in the House today.

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