Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Social Security Amendment (Liquid Assets Waiting Period) Bill 2009. Like the member for Dobell, I voted for the stimulus package and I am very proud of the fact that it is one of the most important votes I have undertaken since I was elected in November 2007. This particular legislation that is before the Main Committee today is allied with it and is an attempt by the Rudd government to cushion the impact of the global financial crisis upon people of my electorate and electorates throughout Australia. The bill will amend the Social Security Act 1991 to relax the liquid assets waiting period threshold for access to income support by doubling the maximum reserve amount for the liquid assets waiting period from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2011, and excluding the surrender value of life insurance policies from the definition of liquid assets for social security purposes.

We are seeing people tragically lose jobs with the impact of the global financial crisis upon our shores. The amendments in this legislation will enable people to get ready access to income payments, such as Newstart, in these circumstances. The liquid assets waiting period is a key factor used by Centrelink in assessing the financial position of people applying for Centrelink payments. Liquid assets are things such as savings in the bank, cash on hand, debentures, term deposits and other money available at short notice. This amendment will allow people to get access to support more readily and more quickly in the event that they lose their job. That is a good thing for my constituents. What we are doing here is ensuring that people who have faced the travails and troubles of losing employment can access Newstart, youth allowance, sickness allowance or Austudy—and, in the circumstances, that is a good thing.

With respect to the surrender of a life insurance policy, that is a permanent change, unlike the previous aspect. I do not think people would believe it unreasonable in the circumstances. I think people would think it is unreasonable to expect a person to realise the surrender value of their life insurance policy in order to access Newstart. I think most people in my constituency would believe that to be unfair and unreasonable. The permanent change regarding the surrender of the value of life insurance is a good and equitable thing in the circumstances. I think it would have broad community support. Cashing in a life insurance policy really disadvantages the policy owner and also impacts on the party’s family and other persons who may be beneficiaries of the estate. I think that disadvantaging them is really unfair, so I warmly applaud the changes in this regard.

We are doing much, as the member for Dobell said, to ensure that people have as much support as possible. The recent $298 million employment services strategy announced by the minister was a good initiative. The personalised job assistance—the $550 credit—is also something that has been warmly received in my electorate, which has seen 400 new people become unemployed in the last month.

With respect to the impact on the people of my area, I have received a number of phone calls to my office saying how much people appreciated the change to the deeming rate. Recently, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs said the deeming rate would drop from three per cent to two per cent for the first $41,000 for a single pensioner and $68,200 for a couple. This would also reduce from four per cent to three per cent for the balance of financial investments over these amounts. The lower deeming rate will also assist veterans during these difficult financial times. The changes are effective from 20 March and include payments made from 26 March this year. This is the third reduction in the deeming rate since November 2008. Lowering the deeming rate has an impact in that part-rate pensioners paid under the income test with financial investments mainly in term deposits, shares, managed investments and other accounts will receive an increase in their pension payments to reflect the reduction in their assessable income. That is an important reform which will assist my constituents, particularly the veterans. I have a large veteran community in my electorate, which takes in RAAF Base Amberley. They have warmly received the change to the deeming rate, and it has been widely publicised in the local media.

About 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 forms of income earned, or part pensioners—even if they paid one dollar in net tax—will receive a tax bonus of up to $900. In total, excluding normal indexation, the Rudd Labor government has provided an additional $2,337 of assistance to single pensioners and approximately $3,537 for pensioner couples since coming to office on 24 November 2007. We have already said that we are committed to long-term reform of the pension system, and I look forward to seeing what the budget has in store in that regard. We are very committed to ensuring our senior citizens, who have contributed so much to the Australian community and the economy, should have dignity and respect and financial security in their old age. That is why the Rudd Labor government has committed so much across four years to helping our senior citizens—approximately $41 billion in HACC funding as well as nursing home funding. That is a big investment that the Rudd Labor government has made to our senior citizens, many of whom are also doing it very tough in the circumstances.

I want to focus briefly on what the Rudd Labor government is doing for my electorate and the impact that will have. As I say, approximately 400 people have been added to the job queue in the last month in my electorate, so the nation-building package will play a big role in affecting my electorate. Recently we announced that the Ipswich basketball stadium will receive $660,000, inclusive of GST, for a new roof, to replace the court flooring, to install air conditioning, to provide a safety net between the courts, and to build a new canteen and other sorts of infrastructure, which will help with local jobs. I had a meeting with Ipswich Basketball Association recently in relation to this matter. That is another local initiative that will bring jobs into the local economy.

We have 63 primary schools in my electorate and 15 high schools, all of which will also benefit from the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, through capital funding, essential upgrades, and essential new businesses—all of which will help those people who are currently experiencing unemployment and are waiting for assistance. I have 12,553 families in my electorate who will get the Back to School Bonus. There are 119 farmers in my electorate. Some 3,870 students looking for work will receive the Training and Learning Bonus to support their study costs. We have also seen 133 houses committed by the Defence Housing Authority—a $36.3 million injection creating housing in the Ipswich area.

We have also seen a lot of money put into the aged-care sector in the Ipswich area, creating local jobs. The supervising manager of the RSL Care redevelopment project in Ipswich, Milford Grange, to which we are giving $5 million in funding and interest-free loans, is an Ipswichian. When I was out there recently with the Minister for Ageing, he was telling me how many local tradesmen, builders and other workers are on the job at the Milford Grange project. We have also given $1.5 million to Cabanda Aged Care as part of their $9 million redevelopment, which provides major employment in the local area. These are real and practical ways to support jobs in the local economy. There are nearly 70 workers in the Cabanda aged-care facility—a wonderful community project that will make a big difference.

We are also supporting jobs locally because we do not want young people who leave our schools to be in the position where they have to rely on Centrelink and Newstart. There are changes such as the trade training centres we are seeing in Ipswich—a $3 million commitment. We recently announced the $1.5 million Lockyer Valley trade training centre. Training in the wet trades, in carpentry, in engineering and in the automotive trades will also make a big impact in the local economy. But the thing that really strikes me about what we are doing in the local economy in conversations I have had with local businesspeople is how very happy they are that we are providing small businesses with an additional 30 per cent tax deduction for eligible assets costing $1,000 or more which are acquired between 13 December 2008 and 30 June 2009. They are very excited about that. They are very pleased with that sort of investment in the local economy.

We do not want to rely on people going onto Newstart, youth allowance or other sorts of allowances. That is why we are helping to make it easier for people to access social security. This, along with the kinds of investment we are talking about—nation building; small business advice and support through the Ipswich business enterprise centre; establishing an Australian business investment partnership with the major banks; the on-time payment guarantee that we have talked about previously; the first home owners boost; our far-reaching program to slash red tape; the delivery of 711,000 new training places; and the investment in infrastructure—form the matrix of our Nation Building and Jobs Plan to support jobs, to create jobs and to build enterprise locally in our constituencies as well as in the constituencies of those opposite, who voted against the package.

I want to commend the government for this legislation. It will cushion the blow for those people in my area who, sadly, will lose their jobs—and I have met many of them in my mobile offices around the constituency. I want to commend the government for their initiative in the Nation Building and Jobs Plan and also for the heart they have shown with this legislation. The Nation Building and Jobs Plan is full of cerebral economic development—the head. But the legislation we are talking about here is about the heart—helping those in need, helping those who are disadvantaged, helping those who are suffering. This legislation is a good thing and I commend it to the House.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

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