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

I thank the member for Chisholm for her question. She certainly has a very real concern for and gives great support to, particularly, the pensioners in her electorate. Last night was a very good night for two million families and four million pensioners, carers, people with a disability and veterans. The Economic Security Strategy bill passed the parliament. From 8 December, in just a very short period of time, single pensioners will receive $1,400 each, pensioner couples will receive $2,100 and families will receive $1,000 for each eligible child. Of course, it is the case that these Australians who have been doing it tough are counting on these payments.

I have had some recent calls and letters from pensioners, who have said the following things to me. One, an age pensioner, has written, ‘I can now meet all of my bills and have Christmas dinner for my family for the first time in years.’ A disability pensioner rang me the other day in tears. He can now fly to see his son for Christmas and buy him a decent Christmas present. These pensioners and so many other Australians have been doing it tough and we know that they deserve a helping hand. Unfortunately, it seems that not everybody on the other side of the House agrees with this, even though they promised that there would not be any quibbling about these important payments. Despite promising to support them, some of them just cannot manage it. We know that, as usual, Australians should judge the Leader of the Opposition by what he does, not by what he says. But I think he should go and have a look at what the Leader of the National Party in the Senate had to say about this legislation last night. This is what Senator Joyce said in the Senate:

… I think I have been consistent—and I speak on behalf of some of my colleagues—in saying that I do not agree with this package.

Which colleagues? Which colleagues is he speaking about? Who else on that side of the House does not want these payments to go to pensioners, carers and families? You would have thought that at this point we would have had either the Leader of the Opposition jumping up to speak or even maybe the member for Warringah. He, of course, might have jumped up to defend families and pensioners.

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