Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am just wondering what the members of the opposition are going to say when the outcomes of the G20 summit come out on the weekend from Washington, because world leaders are gathering there later this week to discuss the united, collective response to the current global financial crisis, and talking about the sorts of regulation and stimulus packages that the Australian government got out of the blocks on very quickly on 14 October this year, in a very comprehensive and immediate response to the gathering global financial crisis. So, after listening to the opposition members be so incredibly critical of the government’s response, it would be very interesting to hear what they actually say when the G20 countries gather to determine similar responses in their countries to the one that the Labor government has implemented here in Australia.

I want to join with my colleagues on this side of the House in commending the member for Solomon on this motion and to join with them also in commending the government on its response to this global financial crisis with the economic security package that was announced almost a month ago now. Since that time the bad news has continued to come out about the outlook for the international economy. Just last Friday we had another update from the International Monetary Fund of its World economic outlookand this is the second time it has been revised in the space of a month, so you can see how quickly this crisis is unfolding. But the latest global growth projections from the IMF are now in the order of 3.7 per cent for 2008 and down to 2.2 per cent for 2009. So the whole idea of the package announced by the Prime Minister on 14 October is to stay ahead of the global economic meltdown, to cushion Australia against the impact of this slowdown in the global economy.

As I said, the economic security package is comprehensive and far-reaching. I want to focus on a couple of points out of that package that I know have been greatly welcomed by people in my electorate. The major one is the $4.8 billion down payment on our package for pensioners. The member for Tangney was again very critical of this particular measure and was lauding the opposition’s policy for pensioners. But, again, that was leaving out over two million pensioners in Australia. By contrast, the payments that pensioners will receive from the government on 8 December go to every category of pensioner and they will go a long way to assisting pensioners to meet some of the cost of living pressures that they face.

On that point, I was actually quite shocked earlier this year when I read a speech by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs when she referred to OECD data that has been released on income distribution and poverty. I was shocked to see in that speech that Australia has the fourth highest relative income poverty rate for people aged 65 and over in the OECD. It shows that the gap between our aged citizens and the rest of the population is amongst the widest in the world. For singles over 65, the income poverty rate in Australia is 50 per cent—and this is the third highest in the OECD compared to the average in the OECD of 25 per cent.

The government has acknowledged that something needs to be done about pensions. As we say, this is a down payment on what we know must be addressed as a result of the Harmer review which is currently underway. The government is sticking by its commitment to pensioners that this will be addressed in the upcoming budget, and that promise has been restated even in the face of the greatly deteriorating economic situation that we face in the coming months and into next year. The government’s action in response to the global financial crisis has been immediate, it has been decisive and it will keep this economy strong. (Time expired)

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