Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

With due respect to the member for Moreton, one could be forgiven for not knowing exactly what the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Seniors Health Card and Other Measures) Bill 2014 is about. Indeed, it is about an election promise that we went to the people with in September 2013 to index the income thresholds for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. I know for those on the other side that election promises are sometimes things that they struggle with, but we are determined to make sure that our election commitments are delivered. While today is not a day for hubris, the decision that the Senate made today on the carbon tax makes it indeed a good day for families. It is indeed a good day for households; it is indeed a good day for small businesses all around this country, including my electorate of Lyons.

The measures relating to the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card apply to self-funded retirees in recognition of the contributions and, in many cases, the sacrifices that they have made over the course of their working lives. How important are self-fund retirees? They have taken responsibility for their contributions in order to make it possible for them to have the sort of retirement that they would like to have. As I say, in many cases, they have done this at great personal sacrifice. They have saved the taxpayers of Australia and, ultimately, the Commonwealth budget considerable cost by virtue of the fact that they have been able to implement measures to support themselves. This was an election commitment that we made and that we took to the people.

People have made the commitment to take on the responsibility to fund their retirement, often without the benefit of superannuation, over their working lives. Why is it that everything we have heard from those on the other side sounds as if they are almost taking as offence that these people could be so brazen, so bold, to have made provision for themselves? I simply do not understand it. I do not understand the thinking of this party towards people who taken responsibility, people who have made, in some cases, significant sacrifices. What is the hatred that exists on the other side for those people? What is wrong with those people that they have actually done the planning, made the sacrifices and funded themselves into their retirement?

We are talking here about 290,000 Australians who have done this through their working lives. They are not wealthy people in many instances, and that is why we have indexed the card from a modest $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples who are entitled to the health card. In my electorate of Lyons, 1,020 people receive the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. Indeed, many of these people are not wealthy people. It is expected that up to 30,000 Australians, in addition to the 290,000 Australians who are already eligible for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, will, because of the indexation thresholds being increased, now be eligible. We should be celebrating these people, because every person who funds their own retirement is one less person that the taxpayers of Australia need to fund. It is not rocket science. I think it was Paul Keating who said—and we have heard a lot about Bob Hawke today, and rightly so—that those somebodies are actually the taxpayers of Australia, who fund government spending. This measure simply means that more individuals will qualify for the Seniors Health Card and the concessions that are provided by the card, including the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at a concessional rate, access to bulk-billing doctor appointments, and cheaper out-of-hospital medical expenses through the Medicare safety net. Indeed, 290,000 Australians will benefit, and up to 30,000 additional people will benefit. Indexing the income thresholds will commence on 20 September 2014, according to the CPI, or the cost of living, which will mean that self-funded retirees will qualify for this benefit or retain the value that the card offers as cost-of-living increases. Amendments to this legislation apply to the Seniors Health Card under either the Social Security Act 1991 or the Veterans Entitlements Act 1996.

One of the other key measures in the amendments before us today is that the time during which people with a seniors healthcare card who travel overseas will not need to reapply for the card has been extended from six to 19 weeks. I think this is a wonderful initiative, particularly for migrant families and people who are looking to have family reunions overseas. Those people around Australia, some of those 290,000 Australians with a Seniors Health Card, will be able to sleep easy tonight knowing that they will be able to go overseas to visit their relatives, some of whom they may not have seen for many years, and that if they stay away for less than 19 weeks they will not have to reapply for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

To try to localise this, I reference the president of the Northern Tasmania branch of the Association of Independent Retirees, Mr Graeme Barwick. He says that much of the proposed reform regarding the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card will be welcomed by Tasmanian independent retirees. He also said that his association has been lobbying for four years to have income thresholds for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card changed. Indeed, it was an election commitment that we made and that we took to the people, and we are delivering on that election promise—the federal government's commitment to index the income threshold to self-funded retirees applying for the Seniors Health Card to inflation from 20 September this year. He said that most independent retirees will be particularly happy about the extension of the maximum time that card holders can spend overseas before they have to reapply for it. In particular, this will apply to those people looking at having family reunions in different parts of the world. Graeme says that the six-week time frame did not work particularly well, even for those who perhaps chose to take some time overseas as part of a vacation. He is really pleased to see the changes, because it has been a long time since these qualification requirements were adjusted. He said that when he first applied for the card in the early 2000s the income threshold was set at $80,000 for a couple and $50,000 for an individual. So, it has been nearly 14 years since this recognition of the important commitment that these people have made and often the sacrifices that self-funded retirees have made during the course of their working life that these thresholds are now being indexed.

We have heard a lot from the other side with respect to pensioners. Again, there were some fundamental commitments that we made in the lead-up to the election. We said that we would stop the boats. We said that we would get rid of the carbon tax, and indeed that is what we have delivered on today. Also, the benefits that will apply to older Australians, including those people on the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and self-funded retirees, and pensioners as well, not only will not have the burden of $550 a week that was imposed, on average, on every household around Australia but also will be able to keep the concessions. They will be able to keep the concessions—which were in fact the energy supplement, for example, which were commitments that were delivered by the previous government. We have honoured those commitments, and not only will you not have to pay the carbon tax but also you will be able to keep the energy supplement.

So, for all older Australians—be they self-funded retirees or be they pensioners—indeed this is a good day. And the best way we have been able to help pensioners is by getting rid of the carbon tax. The impact also flows through to electricity prices. It was only last week that the Tasmanian Energy Regulator highlighted the fact that electricity prices in my state will fall by 7.8 per cent and that pensions will continue to go up. For the next three years pensions will be indexed by either male average weekly earnings or the cost of living. Beyond 2017 they will continue to go up twice a year: they will go up in March and they will go up again in September each year, and they will continue to go up by the cost of living—which is how they were indexed in March this year. The scare campaign that has been run by those on the other side in respect of pensioners particularly has been simply something to behold. I am new to this, but the mistruths are there in black and white. And I say to every pensioner in my electorate—and there are many; I have one of the older demographics in the country; Tasmania has one of the older demographics in the country—that your pensions will continue to go up. Each household will receive on average a $550 benefit because the carbon tax will no longer be there as of tomorrow. You will retain the energy supplements that were part of the compensation—for goodness sake; how does that work, what madness is that?—but you will not have to pay the carbon tax as of today.

I talked about social services when I previously spoke in here on another piece of legislation. We have a real challenge not only in this country but globally when you look at the demographics. Birthrates between 1950 and 1955 were 37 for every 1,000 people globally. Between 1990 and 1995 that had fallen to 24.3 for every 1,000 people. In the period 2030 to 2035 that is expected to fall to 16.1 for every 1,000 people. These are the challenges that we face not only in this country but globally. For example, in Australia in 1960 there were 10 working age people for every single person over the age of 65. Today there are five people of working age for every Australian over the age of 65. In 2050, it is predicted there will be 2.8 people of working age for every person over the age of 65.

We should be celebrating self-funded retirees and we should be so grateful to them. They are not wealthy people. Many of them did not have the luxury of having a superannuation contribution through most of their working life but were able to set themselves up for a retirement of their choosing. We should be grateful to the contribution that they have made, and this is recognition that we as a government value those 290,000 Australians—including, in my electorate of Lyons, the 1,020 Tasmanians—who have done that planning and made those sacrifices to prepare themselves for their retirement. We are indexing the thresholds for the Commonwealth seniors health card, which will allow it to retain its value and will retain available concessions when they visit the hospital or their GP. This is a good thing.

One thing is sure: older Australians have seen it all before. They know that coalition governments pay off debt. We did it in 1996. We have a bigger challenge in 2014. But those on this side are up for the challenge and we will deliver on the commitments that we made to the Australian people to pay back the debt that was created under six years of Labor. We have done it before and we will do it again. That is one thing that older Australians truly understand, whether they be self-funded retirees or pensioners. They have seen it all before. Older Australians know that as a household and as a nation you just cannot continue to pay the metaphorical mortgage on the metaphorical credit card.

Debate interrupted.

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