Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

You can get those as well. I was an apprentice greenkeeper and, cutting my teeth as an apprentice at a bowling club and then later on at golf clubs, I came in contact with a lot of senior Australians. The lessons you learn around bowls clubs hold you in good stead throughout your life. It was also great helping out at the NT firies seniors Christmas party again this year. The Christmas lunch is an annual event that just keeps getting bigger and better, and I know it is something the senior Territorians look forward to each year. We have a strong representative group at this event. Senior Territorians do some great work.

COTA NT is led by the president, Mr Brian Hilder, the chief executive, Dr Graeme Suckling, and the very hardworking members of the board. They do a great job for the seniors in Solomon, along with the NT Advisory Council on Ageing and the Office of Senior Territorians. I know from getting around the electorate that seniors in Darwin and Palmerston are a lot happier with what our government has done for seniors after the 12 years of neglect from those opposite. It is not just the seniors in Solomon; you just have to look at press releases put out by the Council on the Ageing, the national peak seniors body, to see what they think of our government’s investment in senior Australians. A COTA press release headline from last year was ‘Broadband for seniors gets the thumbs up’, another headline in November was ‘COTA gives Rudd a tick regarding the pensioner bonus payments’ and another in December was ‘PM again delivers for seniors’. The last headline was in relation to the new transport concessions when seniors travel interstate. I will quote from the Executive Director of COTA Over 50s, Dr Geoffrey Bird, who said:

This means that seniors travelling interstate can now access cheaper fares on local public transportation.

Seniors from the Northern Territory can enjoy discount travel to Sydney, including a ‘seniors’ ferry ride around Sydney Harbour.

I know senior Territorians will enjoy the concession benefits when travelling interstate, just like so many other seniors who come to visit the Top End every year.

Australia’s age pensioners received a total of $2.5 billion through the Economic Security Strategy payments as part of the Australian government’s response to the global financial crisis. In December last year, through the ESS, the government made lump sum payments of $1,400 to singles and $2,100 to couples to provide a helping hand during the economic hard times. Four out of every five of the 2.8 million Australians aged over 65 benefited from those payments. Around 290,000 older Australians will benefit from the government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan. Self-funded retirees who paid tax in 2007-08 through investments or other income and part pensions—even $1 of tax—will get a tax bonus of up to $900. In total, excluding normal indexation, the Rudd government has provided an additional $2,337 in assistance to single pensioners and $3,537 to pensioner couples since coming to office.

The latest numbers show that there has been a significant increase in the number of people who are applying for the pension and the number of people who are eligible for the pension. The numbers went up to 3,000 per week in December compared to around 2,000 per week in October. This reflects the significant impact of the global financial crisis on our pensioners and self-funded retirees. That is why, more recently, our government is supporting senior Australians through other financial measures. For example, we announced the release of regulations that give effect to the government’s decision to halve the minimum payment amounts for account based pensions for the financial year. The regulations reduce the minimum payment amounts for account based, allocated and market linked pensions by 50 per cent for 2008-09. This temporary relief addresses concerns that the minimum draw-down requirement for the financial year was based on account balances last year, when equity values were higher. Part rate pensioners paid under the income test, with financial investments mainly in term deposits, shares, managed investments and other accounts, may receive an increase in their pension payments to reflect the reduction in their assessable income. These actions are a decisive move by the Australian government to ease financial pressure on senior Australians. I commend the bill to the House.

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