Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Just for the enlightenment of the member for Sydney, before she leaves the chamber, in her example of a couple who are homeowners, currently their pension starts to reduce when their assets hit $286,500. Under our proposal, their pension will not start to reduce till they reach $375,000 in assets. The other point worth noting for those opposite is: if their assets fall in value, what happens to their pensions? Their pensions actually go up in value as a replacement for the fact that their assets have fallen in value.

This government is focused on providing a sustainable, long-term pension and retirement income system for all Australians that qualify. At the end of the day, these changes will put $30 a fortnight extra in the pockets of some 170,000 Australians who need it most. It is the ones on the bottom rung of the pension ladder who need that increase and that assistance, and they are the people we are focusing on helping.

The age pension is a safety net for older Australians, but it is only part of our retirement income system, and that retirement income system includes superannuation and also voluntary savings. As our population ages, we need to ensure that the pension system is sustainable and fair so we as government can continue to provide those services to Australians who need it most.

We have listened to two contributions from those opposite that just demonstrate how short-sighted and in denial they are about where the budget and our pension costs are going in the longer term. Currently, our age pension is growing at unsustainable levels. We need a sustainable, long-term system.

The opposition talks about the government hurting middle Australia with its cuts to part pensions, yet Labor's approach to the budget deficit is to hurt middle-income families with tax increases. The coalition has passed measures to reduce the tax rate for small business; yet Labor wants to tax business more. Labor wants to punish Australians for making their own super contributions by charging higher taxes on the income they generate. Labor wants Australians, who have already paid for their own retirement, to keep paying the country's welfare bill. How is this helping Australians become self-funded and self-sufficient retirees?

Labor's measures punish our nation's middle-income pensioners for trying to get ahead in retirement savings. Labor wants to pull the rug on these families by abolishing negative gearing tax incentives. When we consider that 1.5 million investors with negatively geared investment properties have taxable incomes of less than $80,000, they are the middle-class Australian families who take the risk in property and investment markets with the hope of funding their future retirement income streams.

As usual, it is poorly-thought out measures from those opposite that hurt the families they purport to support most. A nation that fails to encourage its citizens to provide for themselves will become a nation where welfare becomes more and more common. As we all agree, I am sure in this House, welfare is about genuine need and it should be used as a helping hand to lift those up who have not been able to help themselves. It should not be seen as an incentive.

It is important to reflect that, currently, eight out of 10 taxpayers' tax goes towards paying the current welfare bill of $150 million a year. The coalition's fair and sustainable pension measures will see 90 per cent or 3.7 million pensioners better off or have no change to their pension and pension linked payments under these new proposals. Most importantly, the family home will continue to be excluded from the pension assets test.

Couples who own their own home with additional assets of less than $451,500 will get a higher pension and be better off. Couples who do not own their own home with assets of up to $699,000 will be better off. Singles with their own home and additional assets of less than $289,500 will be better off; and singles who do not own their own home and— (Time expired)

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