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

I thank the member for Bonner for her question. The government is firmly committed to economically responsible family policy. We want to have family policy that supports people who are doing it tough in this country. That is why we are introducing a number of measures to better target family payments, including payments like the baby bonus and family tax benefit part B. We will be introducing an income test that will apply at $150,000 a year—a reasonable limit for these payments. Around 280,000 families will continue to receive the baby bonus, and around 1.4 million Australian families will continue to be eligible for family tax benefit part B. We consider that it is responsible to target government support to those families who are in the most need.

It is the case that these changes have been heralded by a number of commentators. ‘Praiseworthy’ is the way in which Ross Gittins, the economist writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, described it. By contrast, it has taken the Leader of the Opposition quite a while to come to a position on the government’s changes. It does seem like it has been a rather long and very painful process. First, he said he opposed income testing. Then he could not decide which position to take. We know he could not get his colleagues into line. Eventually, I understand, he has agreed that he will be supporting the bill. We do know that he could have gone either way because it is not as if he actually believes that family policy should be both economically responsible and fair. It is the case of course that this Leader of the Opposition has more positions on a range of issues—more positions than even a yoga instructor.

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