Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

The minister then went on to say, 'But we have put a new indexation system in place so there is a little more than they would have otherwise got.' But the implication that this minister is seeking to make all the time is that the whole of $19.50 increase was something additionally given today. The reality is, yes, there has been a minor increase, but not this huge increase that she would like all of us to believe and all the pensioners to believe. It is typical of this government, who use overblown rhetoric and overclaim for things all the time, whether it is about this pension increase or many other matters. Unfortunately, the poor economic management of this Labor government will make it more difficult in future years for pensioners to get an increase in their pensions and live better than they might do at the present time. Let us take some examples. The Labor government introduced a solar panel rebate scheme which saw pensioners try to do their bit by installing solar. But, when excess power from the panels was returned to the power grid, pensioners received a nasty surprise: the Labor government had decided that the rebate or cash discount they were receiving on their next bill was income and therefore would be treated as such for the purposes of calculating pension eligibility. This decision was pursued by the coalition at a Senate estimates hearing and ultimately, after continuous pressure from the coalition, the government backed down and reversed their decision. Here once again was a case of this government robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Pensioners are among the people worst affected by the increases in the cost of living that we have seen in recent years. Under this government, between December 2007 and December 2010, electricity prices across Australia increased by an average of 43.5 per cent. Pensioners are the very people who do not have much flexibility in the use of electricity. If they want to cook something, they have to use electricity—if that is the form of power they use. If they want to keep warm on a cold night here in Canberra or somewhere else in the country, unlike people who are on much higher incomes, they have to pay a disproportionately large amount of their income in order to do so. What other choice do they have? So a 43.5 per cent increase in power bills hits the pensioners of Australia particularly hard. What if they do not use electricity and instead use gas? We have seen gas prices go up over the period from December 2007 to December 2010 by 28 per cent. So there has been a 43 per cent in electricity prices and a 28 per cent increase in gas prices.

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