Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the appalling actions of the New South Wales coalition government, led by Premier Barry O'Farrell, actions that rip much needed cash out of the hands of struggling pensioners. It was, after all, the Australian Labor Party that first introduced the age pension, and our federal Labor government is proud of the reforms we have delivered since forming government in 2007. In 2009 we delivered the greatest increase to the pension in 100 years. Since this time we have increased the maximum rate by $154 per fortnight for singles and $156 for couples combined. This is definitely helping pensioners with essential items and essential bills such as food, electricity, water and rent.

Pensioners have recently received a lump sum supplement payment from the federal Labor government over the past few weeks of $250 for singles and $380 for couples as part of the household assistance package. Pensioners will also receive a permanent increase to their regular payments in March next year. Altogether, single pensions are increasing by an extra $338 a year and couples are receiving an extra $510 a year combined. The increases Labor has delivered are historic and will continue to assist immensely after years of social welfare neglect by the Howard government.

For pensioners living in public housing in New South Wales, 25 per cent of their pensions go towards rent. Our supplement payment was delivered as such to ensure that it would not be included as income for rent payments. Premier O'Farrell and his coalition government have announced that from March 2013 they will erode federal Labor's pension boost and household assistance by increasing public housing rents, taking money straight out of the pockets of public housing tenants. These are people who we know are already doing it incredibly tough, and Premier O'Farrell should know that. After all, he and his family lived in a New South Wales housing commission flat in the mid-1960s. He knows there is nothing glorious about such living and that those living in public housing need all the help they can get. These are not people who live in excess. If anything, they barely scrape through to make ends meet.

This grubby cash grab by the O'Farrell government means that a single person on the maximum rate of pension will now pay an extra $84.50 a year in public housing rent. Around 84,000 pensioners across the state will be affected by this indefensible increase. The member for Shortland made the point that we have invested so much in public housing. It was neglected in the Howard government years. In my electorate alone it is $30.8 million. A lot of that was for affordable rental housing and a lot of it was to maintain and restore state government properties. I wonder about the New South Wales government already being serial offenders. Wherever we put in funding, they withdraw, and I suppose that is one of the things that has led the member for Parramatta to put this motion forward. We are becoming increasingly frustrated by the continuing neglect of the state government in very important areas. In my region there are 8,500 pensioners living in public housing—people who will have part of their assistance payments taken away.

But pensioners are not the only people under fire. The recent state budget included nothing for improved oncology services for Newcastle's Calvary Mater Hospital, even though a report commissioned by the New South Wales government found that it was in absolutely serious need of additional funding. Cancer patients in the Hunter region are typically waiting around four or five weeks to access treatment that is available the next day in Sydney. That is a shameful snub for our people but it is also tragic.

That is the sort of example that increases our frustration with the O'Farrell government. Again, $93 million has gone into my electorate for Building the Education Revolution improvements to schools, so what does the O'Farrell government do? It reneges on its promise to replace demountable buildings. The Junction Public School, where I was proudly once a teacher and a parent, had so many demountables after the earthquake and they are still there. They have been waiting much too long, and they will continue to wait under this New South Wales O'Farrell government.

The New South Wales government is driving us nowhere, apparently. Not only is it ripping cash out of the pockets of pensioners but also it is ripping cash out of the roads budget by not matching the Pacific Highway funding of the federal government. We all know the O'Farrell government's below-the-belt attacks on workers' compensation will never be forgotten either. With just over a year of government I can only say that the people of my electorate have been very sorely served by the O'Farrell government.

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