Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think the member for Monash has opened up a really interesting proposition. Of course, we've never had unemployment as low as it currently is. It's very difficult for people to find workers and there is a potential workforce out there amongst older Australians. Some of the ideas that the member for Monash has promulgated are certainly worthy of consideration.

I thank the member for Jagajaga for moving the important motion before us today and I stand here to note that it takes a Labor government to get things done. It was a Labor government that commissioned the last comprehensive review of the pension, with the 2009 Harmer review, which ultimately resulted in a one-off increase to the single age pension and beneficial changes to indexation. Australians on a pension are benefiting from a boost to their bank accounts, thanks to the largest pension indexation increase in more than 12 years and the largest increase to allowances in three decades. The service pension, age pension, disability support pension and carer payment have all risen by $38.90 a fortnight for singles and $58.80 a fortnight for couples in the latest indexation round. The maximum rate for pensioners increased to $1,026.50 a fortnight for singles and $773.80 for each member of a pensioner couple or $1,547 per couple, including the pension supplement and energy settlement.

The rate of JobSeeker payment for singles without children has increased by $25.70 a fortnight to $677.20, including energy supplement, while parenting payment single has increased by $35.20 a fortnight to $927.40, including pension supplement and energy supplement. There are a lot of supplements and things in there, and certainly simplification of the system would be the way to go.

We know that cost-of-living pressures are hitting Australians hard right now. That's the legacy of nine years of neglect by the Morrison government. We have a big mess to clean up. This much-needed boost to pensions will go a long way towards easing some of the pressures that have been building up over the last nine years. Our guiding principle as a government is to ensure that no-one is left behind and no-one is held back.

This indexation increase will help pensioners keep up the cost of living. Labor is committed to a strong social security system, and our system is designed to safeguard pensioners living standards by indexing pensions regularly to reflect these increases to cost-of-living changes. This is just one of the measures that the Albanese government is putting in place to support older Australians. We have also made it easier to get a Commonwealth seniors healthcare card, and we are providing access to cheaper medicines for more older Australians.

Since coming into government six months ago today, we have frozen social security deeming rates at their current levels for two years to 30 June 2024, protecting around 900,000 aged pensioners and other pension recipients from interest rate rises. The Albanese government is and always will be committed to ensuring that Australia has a strong social safety net so that no-one is left behind. Keeping deeming rates low is one way to support older Australians who rely on income from deemed financial investments as well as the pension to deal with the rising cost of living. The lower deeming rate will remain frozen at 0.25 per cent and the upper rate will remain at 2.25 per cent for the next two years to 30 June 2024.

The government has also introduced legislation for changes to strengthen the incentives for aged pensioners to work, which the member for Monash was talking about and which I fully support. If passed, from 1 December, pensioners over the age pension age will benefit from an immediate $4,000 increase in the maximum work bonus income bank balance from $7,800 to $11,800, which they can access until the end of December 2023. It's certainly my hope that we'll be looking at that when that review period is up. Pensioners are financially better off if they do some work. This will provide an immediate benefit to any pensioner over the age pension age who works and will help address some of the labour shortages we are facing in the community.

I join member for Jagajaga in commending the commitment of the Albanese government—six months old today—to support older Australians delivering tangible measures to help them get by in a time where the cost of living and other challenges are forcing people to make their pension stretch further every day.

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