Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is interesting to hear the member for Blair talk about keeping promises. Of course, he was part of a government that promised that there would be carbon tax and delivered the world's largest carbon tax. I am proud to be part of a parliament that removed the world's largest carbon tax and that will save seniors in my electorate many thousands of dollars over the years. Let me get the detail of this legislation.

Before September's federal election, the coalition announced that in government we would index the income limits for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, or CSHC, in line with the consumer price index. We are delivering on that commitment with this legislation, allowing the first annual indexation to occur from 20 September this year. The coalition recognises that self-funded retirees, after a lifetime of hard work, have made a significant contribution to our nation's success and are entitled to a safe and secure retirement. We understand that, by looking after their own retirement needs, they have freed the Commonwealth budget from considerable pension costs. Having done the right thing, many seniors live in fear of unexpected medical bills and losing their CSHC entitlement because of modest changes in their retirement. They deserve peace of mind.

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card provides cost of living assistance to retirees of pension age, but who are ineligible for the age pension. The current health qualifying incomes of $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples have not been lifted since 2001. This government's decision to index those thresholds so that they do not erode in real terms will allow more self-funded retirees to access medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at the concessional rate. It also means increased eligibility for other card-carrying benefits such as reduced out of hospital expenses through the Medicare safety net and bulk-billed GP appointments at the discretion of the doctor. In fact, the income thresholds were not adjusted once during the nearly six years of the previous Labor government. We estimate that a further 30,000 self-funded retirees will be able to access the card in the next four years, due to this initiative we are debating tonight. Of course, many others will be able to keep their cards irrespective of minor fluctuations in their income.

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card was introduced in 1994 primarily to help retirees on low-income. In fact, the original card income limits were the same as for the age pension, which meant that many of those eligible for assistance were asset rich but cash poor—such as retired farmers. From January 1999 qualifying limits for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card were changed to a taxable income test, with the income limits substantially increased so more self-funded retirees could benefit. In 2001 the coalition raised the limits again to the current level of $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples. This broadened access even further to include middle-income self-funded retirees with the number of card holders rising to about 318,000 across the term of the Howard government. In fact, when the Howard government came to power in March 1996, just 33,000 health card holders existed. In other words, the government's expansion of the CSHC as a means of assisting self-funded retirees to acquire medicines saw almost tenfold growth across the course of the former coalition government. Yes, there was a direct cost to the budget, but by removing a major disincentive for seniors to provide for themselves in their later years, they were further encouraged to be self-reliant in their retirement. In recent times the coalition has strongly argued for indexation of the income threshold to be rebooted, allowing more self-funded retirees to access the CSHC, an acknowledgement that over the past decade or more eligibility thresholds have deteriorated in real terms as a result of inflation and bracket creep.

We went to the last election with a plan to restore indexation and to fight Labor's attempt to restrict eligibility as part of our overarching support for self-funded retirees. We recognise the enormous contribution of these seniors to the success of our nation. We want to do everything we can to support a successful transition to self-reliance beyond their working years. The coalition is committed to a three-pillar retirement system: an aged pension as safety net; a compulsory system of retirement savings through superannuation; and incentives for voluntary savings. We encourage as many Australians as possible to actively plan and save for their retirement, to take full advantage of the benefits of the superannuation system and to work towards a self-funded retirement.

The previous Labor government increased taxation by almost $9 billion on Australians' superannuation savings and removed many of the Howard government's positive changes. By restoring stability and certainty to superannuation, this is a key part of this government's commitment to build a strong and prosperous economy. Mr Deputy Speaker, we keep our commitments. As I said before: today we have seen this. The former Labor government promised that there would be no carbon tax under their government and they introduced the world's largest carbon tax. Today we kept our commitment to repeal that. We also made other commitments during the election campaign on the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, and we are keeping them. We will be standing by our commitment to index thresholds, because that is who we are—we are a government that will not waiver from its contract with the Australian people. This was the problem with the last government. It was a government that made promises and then repeatedly broke them in accordance with the cheap, political dictates of the Labor Party's faceless people.

We are not the government of dishonour and discredit that was the former ALP government. We are competent and trustworthy. We are the government that will act on what it says and it will do what it says to the Australian people. I might add that as well as our commitments on the seniors health card and superannuation as a whole, we are keeping faith with the veterans' community by now providing fair indexation of the Defence Force Retirement Benefits and Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits military superannuation pensions, and that applies to 1046 people in my electorate of Longman. The new and more favourable increases apply to DFRB and DFRDB superannuants aged 55 and over. The former government increased military superannuation pensions by the consumer price index only. We have kept our word: Australian veterans who have risked their life and limb deserve better than a government that says one thing before an election and another thing afterwards.

The coalition's indexation of the Commonwealth seniors health card will allow more self-funded retirees access to medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at the concessional rate. CSHC cardholders also receive access to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescriptions, generally without charge, for the remainder of the calendar year after reaching the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety Net threshold; bulk-billed general practitioner appointments at the discretion of the doctor; and a reduction in the cost of out-of-hospital expenses, through the Medicare Safety Net. Indexation will occur annually in September, with the first indexation to occur in September this year, taking into account changes in the consumer price index over the current financial year.

The coalition's indexation of the CSHC will help reduce the cost of living for many more self-funded retirees. The carbon tax is now gone and under this government the previous Labor administration's damaging attacks on private health insurance have ended. With the elimination of carbon pricing, the average household will be better off by $550 a year. Families and seniors will see their electricity and gas bills reduced. Prices for groceries, household items and services will also fall, because the price of power is built into every cost in our economy. At the same time, Australians will get to keep the current income tax thresholds and fortnightly pension and benefit increases provided in the previous government's carbon tax package. That means tax cuts without a carbon tax. Pensioners will also be keeping the energy supplement, currently up to $361 a year for singles and up to $546 a year for couples. In other words, instead of just being a partial compensation for Labor's damaging carbon tax hit, these tax cuts and benefits will become genuine cost-of-living relief worth around $4 billion a year.

The coalition recognises that self-funded retirees save the Commonwealth considerable pension costs by looking after their own retirement needs. We also know that many self-funded retirees are not necessarily wealthy and, like all seniors, face significant financial pressures. Self-funded retirees of modest means have incomes that can vary year in, year out. Unexpected medical bills can be a significant worry for many seniors as they age. That is why we took to the election the commitment to index the income thresholds for the CSHC. It is a change that, for years, seniors and their representative organisations have been calling for. We have listened. By indexing each September the CSHC income thresholds, seniors will rightfully be receiving greater cost-of-living assistance as part of our plan to build a stronger nation and a better future for all Australians. I commend the bill to the House.

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