Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do it over a week, member for Dobell. I talk to over 130 constituents and almost all of them talk to me about the rising cost of living. When I was interviewed by a local radio station a couple of days later, they said, 'What's the burning issue on the Sunshine Coast?' I said this: 'The burning issue is cost of living, cost of living, cost of living.' Everybody—and I mean everybody—is feeling the pinch at the moment.

When you've got people who are feeling the pinch, which is just about everybody, and you've got businesses that can't get staff, it stands to reason that we do what we can to try and get as many pensioners, age pensioners or veterans who are on a pension, back to work, if that is what they would like to do. Certainly, many of them are saying that is exactly what they want to do.

The bill amends the social security law and Veterans' Entitlement Act 1986 to encourage age pension, disability support pension, carer payment and veterans entitlement recipients over age pension age to engage in paid employment. This includes suspending the benefits and entitlements instead of immediate cancellation, allowing for a more streamlined step-up or step-down from the incentives. It means extending the qualification for pensioner concession cards and temporarily increasing the pensioner work bonus.

Once again, this policy reflects measures proposed by the coalition in government. On 10 February 2022 the coalition, when it was in government—I remember those glory days—introduced the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Workforce Incentive) Bill 2022 to incentivise recipients of the age pension, disability support pension and certain veterans entitlements to undertake or increase paid employment. Under the coalition's legislation, pensioners with employment income whose total income exceeded the income limit would have their age pension suspended for a period of up to two years rather than cancelled after 12 weeks. If at any time during the two-year period their income was at a level that they could return to the age pension, they would benefit from an abridged reapplication process that only required them to update their circumstances, including their income and asset information with Services Australia.

The coalition's bill also allowed for working age pensioners, disability support pensioners and certain veterans entitlement recipients and their pensioner partners to retain their pensioner concession card for up to two years after their payment ceases. After the election, the coalition announced that a Dutton government would support older Australians who chose to work more by doubling the amount of income that age pensioners and veteran service pensioners could earn without reducing pension payments. This would enable pensioners and relevant veteran entitlement recipients to earn up to $600 a fortnight work bonus and still receive the maximum amount of pension payment. This would benefit 80,000 age pensioners and up to 22,000 residents of Fisher—my electorate has the largest demographic. Pensioners would continue to accrue unused pension work bonus amounts up to a maximum of $7,800, which can exempt future earnings from the pension income test. The increase would be reviewed annually.

This coalition policy makes it further worthwhile for older Australians to pick up an extra shift or work extra hours and help small and regional businesses deal with labour shortages. Back then, the coalition called on the Albanese government to implement the policy immediately, to help relieve pressure on a very tight labour market. And all we got from the government was silence. It took the Jobs and Skills Summit to drag the Albanese government belatedly into this policy space. While welcoming the government's long overdue announcement of an increase in the work bonus income bank balance, we said it was too little, too late.

On 3 August Senator Dean Smith introduced a private senator's bill to give effect to the policy announced by the coalition. The bill also included extended qualification for pensioner concession cards and suspension of benefits and entitlements instead of cancellation, as per the bill introduced by the former government on 10 February. Additionally, in September, the coalition successfully amended other government social services legislation in the Senate to include the measures contained in Senator Smith's bill. This legislation is yet to return to the House of Representatives.

The first two schedules in this government bill replicate the measures in the coalition's bill introduced in February and in Senator Smith's bill. We take issue with the lesser financial incentive though. The government's alternative is a financial incentive less than the increase the coalition's policy would provide, and it's only a temporary measure, due to expire on 30 June 2023. So not only is it less than—half, in fact—what the coalition put forward only a couple of months ago; it is a temporary measure. That's why the coalition is calling on the government to increase the Work Bonus from $300 to $600 a fortnight to incentivise eligible pensioners. Increasing the amount pensioners can earn every fortnight will make a meaningful difference to household finances, and the coalition calls on the government to increase the fortnightly Work Bonus from $300 to $600 from 1 July and provide certainty by actually making it ongoing. By all means have a review, as is often the case in this place. Write into the legislation that, after 12 or 24 months of the operation of the act, a review could be undertaken to determine whether it's still necessary and whether it's still of utilitarian value. But at this stage we would suggest that this is something that we should be looking at continuing.

Now, whilst we will support this bill, with amendments, it demonstrates two things. Firstly, it demonstrates that this Labor government does not have a real plan to address the cost-of-living pressures faced by Australian families and their businesses. I talked a lot about that at the commencement of my speech. Secondly, even in opposition, the coalition is delivering for our most vulnerable, including our veteran community. It was the case with Veterans' Affairs reforms. It was the case with downsizing incentives and with PBS co-payments. When it comes to health care, social care, employment support and veterans' care, it has always been the coalition that has had a plan to support Australians in need. Meanwhile, Labor cut services in the regions. We saw that in the budget just a couple of weeks ago. They slashed progress made in first responder and veterans' mental health support. And, boy, I can't wait to get 15 minutes in the debate on the appropriations bill to talk about those two issues.

This is a government that is all talk and smoke and mirrors. We'll continue to hold them to account, backing good policy—which is usually our policy that they're copying—but we will fight them tooth and nail to ensure that Australian families and their businesses get the best out of this parliament, because they deserve nothing less.

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