Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can say very confidently that the families in his electorate who have teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 will appreciate this change that the Labor government is bringing in.

In addition, we are making improvements to the baby bonus. I am a big supporter of the changes we previously made to the baby bonus—that it be fortnightly payments. We also need to acknowledge that, when you are having a baby, there are up-front costs. There are costs involved in purchasing cots, nappies and all the things that come with having a baby. As any parent knows, although they do not eat a lot of food at that age, the family certainly do need a lot of things at home in those first few days and weeks. That is why it is important we are making these changes to the baby bonus.

There will be a part lump sum up front to assist families and the remainder of the payments will be made over a period of time. The baby bonus will be paid in 13 fortnightly instalments. As a result of this change, from 1 July 2012 claimants will receive $500 more in the 2011-12 financial year in the first fortnightly instalment, and then in the 12 subsequent fortnightly instalments they will receive the remainder of the baby bonus. I think that is a fair way to provide this assistance to families, and I certainly support it.

There are other important amendments. I guess too often across our society now we forget about the people who were affected by thalidomide. We should not, because there are still survivors of thalidomide in Australia. There are 36 Australians who are dealing with the devastating effects of the drug. They have birth defects as a consequence of their mother taking that drug. It is important that amendments are made to ensure fairness in relation to how the payments made to the survivors under the arrangement entered into by Diageo plc, which acquired the company that initially distributed the drug, affect their social security payments and the income and assets test. This is a really important amendment, and I certainly support it.

There are some other amendments in this bill in relation to income management. I do not intend to go through those in detail, but they are important measures that again go to improved administration and support for families and pensioners across my community and across the country. On that note, I reiterate that all the initiatives in this bill are important. They will see benefits flow to people in my electorate. They are commitments that the government made in the 2010 election. There are three election commitments and two non-budget measures dealt with in this bill. It is my pleasure to support this bill before the House.

See this speech in context