Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dunkley for his question, and I thank him for his passionate advocacy for senior Australians in his electorate of Dunkley. Australians are living longer; this is good news. Australians are living longer now by about 10 years. Our population is ageing, albeit not as quickly as some European countries and some North Asian countries. Our population ageing is a material fact that the government has been preparing for and has been preparing for throughout our time in office. The 85-plus age group will be the fastest growing part of our population over the next 40 years. In 1975, there were 125 centenarians. Today, at the most recent census, there were 3,569. By 2055 there will be 40,000 centenarians in Australia. Our government is acting to prepare our country to ensure that we can meet the needs of senior Australians.

We understand, in our government, that aspiration has no age limit. It doesn't matter what age you are: as an Australian, you will always have your aspirations that are supported by our government. To be financially secure, to be independent, to be safe, to be healthy, to be active, to be respected, to have new opportunities and to seek out new experiences, that is what our policies are designed to do for senior Australians and that's what we are funding them to be achieving.

One of the ways you are able to deliver $19.7 billion in this financial year for aged care services is if you have a strong economy and if you have an economy where there are Australians of working age in work. Under our government, we have seen, over the last five years, the welfare dependency of working-age Australians fall to the lowest level in 25 years. When you have Australians of working age getting off welfare and getting into work that means you can pay for the services that older Australians and senior Australians rely on. Our workforce participation has increased over the term of our government and that includes 640,000 more women in the workforce from when we first came into government. The gender pay gap has fallen from 17.2 per cent to 14.5 per cent under the policies of our government.

Australians are working longer. Indeed, there are half a million Australians over the age of 65 who are out there working and paying taxes. With the record jobs growth—the strongest jobs growth in our nation's history on recorded economic facts—one-third of those jobs went to Australians aged over 55. We know how to run a strong economy and that's why senior Australians can count on the promises we make and the actions we are taking to ensure their aspirations are realised. (Time expired)

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