Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is great to have the opportunity to follow on from where I left off yesterday on the Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements Amendment (Commonwealth Seniors Health Card) Bill 2009. Back in 2007, prior to the last election, the Prime Minister promised to ease the pressures felt by older Australians to keep up with the rising cost of living. This was a promise, just like many others, that has since been broken. Rather than taking affirmative action to ease the financial pressure felt by so many, particularly self-funded retirees and pensioners, true to style, those opposite have just commissioned a report and indeed now are making life much harder for people who are retired.

We saw the failed Fuelwatch. We saw the failed GroceryWatch, which was designed to bring down the cost of groceries. Certainly the price of fuel has come down a little, but that is fluctuating constantly. Nothing has been done regarding the promise to bring the price of groceries down, so it just adds layer after layer of additional impost on people who are retired—on top of the global recession, which, as I said yesterday, has caused a lot of difficulties.

While the Labor government is now restricting people’s access to the Commonwealth seniors health card, the coalition government expanded eligibility. Eighty-five per cent of people who had reached the age requirement for an age pension had access under the coalition government to the Commonwealth seniors health card, the healthcare card or the pensioner concession card. The coalition sought to ensure that 85 per cent of older Australians could at least get a bit of assistance after a lifetime of contributing to and building this nation.

The Commonwealth seniors health card includes access to the seniors concession allowance, a non-taxable payment of $128.50 made every three months to help with regular bills such as energy, rates and motor vehicle registration fees that are not available at a concessional rate otherwise. It also includes the telephone allowance, a non-taxable payment of $23 made every three months if the cardholder has a telephone connected in Australia. A higher rate of $34.60 is paid every three months where the person has an internet connection. We know now that many older Australians rely on the internet to allow them to be connected to what is going on in the community.

In the heart of a global financial crisis, older Australians will depend on these services more than ever, so one must seriously question the government’s timing of this bill. Unfortunately for seniors who lose their card, the effects are dire. Under the PBS, cardholders pay $5.30 per script. After losing it they will pay $32.90 per script. That is a huge jump in costs. And what of the PBS safety net? With a card, a senior reaches the safety net threshold when he has paid a total of $318 for scripts. Prescriptions after that are free. Without a card, the safety net threshold rises to $1,264.90—yes, you heard right, Mr Speaker: it rises from $318 to $1,264.90—after which a fee of $5.30 per script still applies. Most working families would struggle to pay this, let alone a senior relying on the pension, who cannot go back and start a career again to restore their savings and investments.

The Commonwealth seniors health card allows holders to benefit from a range of concessions granted at the discretion of providers. These include medical bulk-billing and household, transport, education, recreation and entertainment facilities. They will be greatly missed by people who become ineligible for the card. Older Australians have a right to feel cheated by this government—the same government that voted against increasing pensions by $30 when the coalition supported that measure.

I have noticed a disturbing trend in the media of late where older Australians are being negatively targeted. One such article published in the Daily Telegraph under the headline ‘Counting the cost of filthy rich pensioners’ suggested that taxpayers’ money was being handed out to undeserving millionaire pensioners on a regular basis. This is indicative of a host of articles suggesting that thousands of retirees spend their days trying to work out the best way to beat the system.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It has certainly not been my experience in the electorate of Pearce, and I do not believe this is a true picture of what is going on. A number of elderly constituents have contacted me recently to comment on the negative social attitudes that are being put about by some elements within the community. They are attitudes that my constituents feel result from stereotypes that were created recently in the media.

My constituents further tell me that they are proud to be self-funded retirees and that they will do all that they can to ensure that they remain as independent of government assistance as possible. These are people who are proud of what they have achieved. They are proud of having raised families and of having contributed to the nation. They do not wish to have any more reliance on government than is absolutely essential. For a section of the population who cannot readily re-enter the workforce and improve their budget situation, alterations to their budget will have a significant impact on their quality of life.

The government have a duty to all Australians to uphold their promises, but they have not done so. They have breached their duty to older Australians. They have a duty to ensure that the effects of the current financial conditions do not cause even greater uncertainty and, importantly, greater financial stress for older Australians. They have breached this duty. I do not know how any person in this place who votes for this bill will be able to walk among their community and look older Australians in the eye and tell them that they are representing their interests.

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