Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in this place to make it very clear that I am appalled at the way the Turnbull government is treating our pensioners and I am proud to support the amendment moved by Jenny Macklin MP. This government's continual attack on pensioners shows just how out of touch they really are with the basic needs of the people in our communities who need the most support.

It is also a pleasure for me to follow the member for Whitlam, who has identified very succinctly the plight of pensioners in our community today. The findings of the OECD report Pensions at a glance 2015 show that one-third of pensioners are living below the poverty line. Australia was ranked second-lowest on social equity, with 36 per cent of pensioners living below the poverty line, and, for Australia, this is simply disgraceful and totally unacceptable.

Not only is this government now making Australians work until they are 70 years of age, but it has put forward detrimental cuts to pensioners' livelihoods. This will see Australia have the oldest retirement age in the developed world. It is a sad fact that the Turnbull government will give big business a $65 billion tax break whilst making significant, life-altering cuts for pensioners. How out of touch is that!

The vast majority of the age pensioners in this country have worked and paid their taxes. They are not 'leaners'. They have earned their pension. They have contributed to our economy and our communities. In the Herbert electorate there are more than 12,000 people who are on the age pension. These pensioners are former teachers, construction workers, secretaries and nurses. These are the people who, during their lifetime, have contributed to the Herbert economy and community, and I intend to stand up for them against this government's cruel cuts.

But let us address the elephant in the room in this bill: the energy assistance payment. A single pensioner will have a pension cut of $14.10 per fortnight or $365 a year because of the Turnbull government. Couple pensioners will be $21.20 a fortnight worse off, or around $550 a year worse off. If someone, anyone, in the Turnbull government could please explain to me how taking $365 a year from a pensioner and replacing it with a measly one-off payment of $75 does not mean that pensioners will be worse off, I would be truly grateful. Taking $365 per year and giving a one-off payment of $75 simply does not add up and is not a win, in my book, for pensioners.

If this is the maths that our Treasurer is doing, it is no wonder that he has put our AAA credit rating at risk and trebled the deficit. A once-off $75 payment is not the same as $365 in assistance every year to help pensioners keep up with the increasing energy and cost-of-living outlays. A one-off $75 payment will never equal an annual $365 payment. This Prime Minister has shown time and time again that he does not even begin to get fairness. This government cannot try shaking your right hand whilst stealing from your left hand—that is just not fair. Yet this government talks about fairness every day. Clearly it just does not understand what the word 'fairness' means.

It is absolutely outrageous that this government is desperate to give big business a $65 billion tax cut but cannot even give our pensioners $365 a year to help cover the cost of electricity and the growing cost of living.

What is even worse is the fact that the Turnbull government is doing nothing to lower the cost of energy prices in the north. Under the Abbott and Turnbull governments, wholesale electricity prices have doubled across the National Electricity Market. The lack of a clear investment framework for industry to invest in new electricity generation is driving up power prices. The Australian Energy Council has stated that 'the lack of national policy certainty is now the single biggest driver of higher electricity prices'. So not only is the Turnbull government cutting vital assistance to pensioners to pay their electricity bills; it is also driving up the cost of electricity across the country by its inaction. Unfortunately in the Herbert electorate, inaction on electricity prices is nothing new, with this government not matching Labor's commitment of $200 million for a hydro power station on the Burdekin Falls Dam.

All of this inaction and cuts just leave our pensioners worse off every day. I challenge the government to meet some of the people they are affecting with these horrible cuts. Marie lives in my electorate of Herbert and is very active in her community. Marie is 70 years old and is still working. She currently works casually as a cook at one of the boarding schools in Townsville. Although Marie does receive the pension, she cannot afford to not work. Marie is forced to pinch pennies just to survive. She has also been a victim of the Centrelink robo-debt, even though her earnings were reported formally to Centrelink every pay day by the HR department in her place of work. Marie also works to help support her daughter, who is currently unemployed due to a workplace accident and is a single mother with a daughter with a disability. Pensioners like Marie will really miss the $365 energy supplement payment, and a one-off $75 payment just will not cut it.

Living in regional Queensland can be tough for pensioners who are trying to make ends meet. However, this government should never underestimate the determination and activism of seniors and pensioners. In my electorate of Herbert we have a flash mob called Seniors Creating Change, who are very innovative and active in educating the community and sending clear messages to this government. They use music and songs that they write to get their message out, and they are very popular performers in our community. On 10 June, Seniors Creating Change will celebrate their sixth birthday, and they are supported by the Townsville Community Legal Service.

Another issue for pensioners in our community is the price of fuel. It is much higher than the price of fuel in Brisbane. Our electricity costs are more than that of our southern counterparts, and some grocery items are much more expensive. Pensioners like Marie rely heavily on the support provided by the government, which is fair enough, as they have worked all of their lives—and in Marie's case, is still working—paid taxes and contributed to our communities. Surely in their ageing years they deserve to be able to live stress-free and not worry about having enough money to survive day to day and week to week. The energy supplement payment means a lot to pensioners like Marie. It allows them to take a breath and keep their head above water. It is a fair go, a hand up and not a handout. But the Turnbull government makes people like Marie feel ashamed to have something that should be rightfully theirs. Australian pensioners deserve better than this.

The Prime Minister cannot get away with this. He will not get away with pulling the wool over the eyes of age pensioners and hardworking Australians. The Prime Minister does not seem to care about our pensioners. If he really cared about fairness, he would support vulnerable Australians to make ends meet and he would not be trying to abolish the energy supplement payment. I am proud to stand with my Labor colleagues, and I would like to particularly mention the advocacy efforts of the honourable Jenny Macklin. Labor will once again oppose the government's attempts to remove the energy supplement payment for our pensioners, and Labor will once again take up the charge to fight for our pensioners.

Then we have the pensioner concession card. The coalition's disastrous handling of the pensioner concession card has effectively delivered a health cut for many pensioners. Joe Hockey, the then Treasurer, promised Australians that nobody would lose their concession entitlements. The reality is that people did. The coalition government misled the Australian people, and as a result many pensioners have gone without. He said that anyone who currently has a pensioner concession card would continue to receive a concession card that provides the same benefits. Instead, former pensioners were issued with health care cards and Commonwealth seniors cards, which did not provide the same benefits. Many pensioners without a pensioner concession card were not able to access vital government-funded hearing services, and from state to state different concessions were applied. The loss of the pensioner concession card was a cruel double blow to many former pensioners with modest incomes. After Labor had to drag this government kicking and screaming, and after Australian pensioners had to fight for something that was rightfully theirs, the Turnbull government have heard our call and are finally attempting to right the wrong they created.

However, the damage is done. Pensioners can see through this cellophane Turnbull government and know that this government cannot be trusted to protect their pensions. This government must think that Australians have a very short and poor memory. We remember 2014, when this government tried to cut pension indexation and leave pensioners $80 dollars a week poorer over 10 years. We remember when the Liberals tried to reset the deeming rate thresholds, changes that would have negatively impacted half a million part pensioners. Who could forget when the assets test changed and the goalposts were shifted on hundreds of thousands of pensioners who had carefully planned for their retirement. Almost 100,000 retirees lost their pension and many more had their payments reduced. Heaven forbid that a retiree would dare aspire to travel overseas—if Malcolm Turnbull had his way, after six weeks overseas pensioners' payments would be cut off. It would be even worse for migrant pensioners. If you are a pensioner who was not born in Australia and you wanted to visit family and friends overseas, your pension would be reduced in line with the time you have lived in Australia, as though your contribution was simply worthless.

They say these cuts have gone for good, but, as usual, pensioners cannot trust this government. The Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Social Services have all said that the only reason these cuts are not in the budget is because they cannot get through the Senate. This government still believes that making life harder for hardworking Australians is fair and reasonable. These cuts are not gone. The Prime Minister is just waiting for an opportunity to resurrect them. In 2013, Tony Abbott promised no changes to the pension. They could not be trusted then and they cannot be trusted now.

The Prime Minister is holding onto the member for Warringah's plan to increase the pension age to 70. Australians will have to work longer than anybody else anywhere in the world, as I have said. That is not a dream—that is called a nightmare. The Turnbull government is weak when it comes to delivering for our pensioners. The Hon. Christian Porter should be ashamed. As elected representatives, we should be looking after all Australians and not just those with big pockets and big bank accounts. Big business does not need our help. Our pensioners have paid more tax than a lot of tax dodging big businesses. Pensioners deserve and need our help. I will continue to stand up for those who cannot advocate for themselves and I will fight to ensure that pensioners get a fair go, because that is the Australian way.

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