Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with pensioners across the Bendigo electorate, first in Bendigo and in Kyneton. They are horrified that this Liberal-National Party government, again are trying to cut pensions. It may not sound like a lot to those opposite, who now talk about aspiration. They think that an aged-care worker can aspire to go into banking at the age of 60—how deluded are they! Do they have the same view about pensioners who are going to be hit with a cut to their pension? How can they aspire even to survive? This government is trying to cut $14.10 per fortnight from their pension by axing the clean energy supplement. Whether it's a supplement or the pension itself, it is still a cut from their pension and from their income. That cut means that single pensioners will be around $365 a year worse off. For couples, the government is trying to cut $21.20 per fortnight—they will be about $550 a year worse off.

Energy bills have never been higher than they are today under the Liberal-National government. Therefore, the pensioners in my part of the world, which is quite cold at the moment, are wondering what they will do. Will they eat or keep the heating on? When I was in Kyneton last week, Brian said to me: 'I would rather starve than turn the heating off. Kyneton is a cold place.' Maggie spoke to me about the fact that on Friday, which was three days before pension day, she literally only had about 30 bucks left in her wallet. She went to Coles and bought one capsicum, one cucumber, one carrot, one potato. She said to the group when we were talking about this: 'When was the last time you ever bought just one potato? I can tell you how much that cost—$1.04.' This is the life of our pensioners; this is what is happening to them right now. This government is doing little to lower the cost of living because it's literally out of touch with how tough it has become, particularly in areas like Bendigo and regional Australia.

To make it worse, in the budget this government is also proposing to lift the retirement age, the pension age, to 70. How can you be a bricklayer, how can you be a nurse, how can you be someone working in a physical profession until you're 70? It's another example of just how out of touch the government is. There are thousands upon thousands of pensioners who will be worse off if this government gets its their way and cuts the pension. I call on the Senate crossbench to join with Labor to vote down these pension cuts. Think of Maggie; think of Brian. People should not have to choose between heating and eating.

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