Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government won't be supporting the suspension motion moved by the member for North Sydney. We as a government certainly acknowledge that people are doing it tough, and that has been at the centre of all of our actions since we were elected to government. We absolutely understand the challenges people are facing. Our budget and our constant measures to address cost-of-living pressures, and our recent announcement of the tax cuts as well, show that we understand and know people are doing it tough, and that we are absolutely committed to providing support that people require. Those tax cuts from 1 July for every Australian taxpayer are vitally important, and they are on top of our cost-of-living measures which we have announced.

Many of the issues that have been brought up are in relation to some of the pensions. On 20 September 2023 we increased those base rates of working age and student payments, including the JobSeeker payment, youth allowance, the parenting payment, Austudy, the Abstudy living allowance and the disability support pension. They increased by $40 a fortnight to benefit over a million Australians. This is an issue we on this side of the House feel very strongly about, and many people have campaigned for a very long time in relation to increasing those payments—and that was a major commitment we made, as we understood how important it is to take that action.

Along with the basic rate of payment, everyone who receives the JobSeeker payment is eligible for at least another additional supplementary payment which could include the energy supplement, the family tax benefit or rent assistance. Depending on a person's circumstances, there are other supplementary benefits as well. In recognition of the cost associated with raising a family, a higher basic rate is payable to recipients with dependent children and principal carer parents. Income support payments such as JobSeeker are indexed in March and September in line with CPI, and I will detail that a bit more later on.

As a government, we are always committed to helping those most in need. That has been obvious from day one of this government. After 10 years of neglect we have committed a huge amount in terms of providing support that people need. We do that because it was the Labor Party that built the modern safety net. We built universal Medicare, universal superannuation, universal NDIS and the minimum wage. We will always work to ensure all Australians are supported and no-one is left behind. We understand how important that is. We know the cost-of-living pressures, and that's why we're taking all actions possible to make life easier for all Australians.

In our cost-of-living package in the budget, there was a whole range of measures; I've outlined some of those increases already. They include expanding the eligibility for parenting payments single to parents with a youngest child under 14, and, very importantly, increasing the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent—the largest increase in more than 30 years. All that additional support has started flowing. And from yesterday around five million people are receiving a boost to their payments as a result of that indexation. Indexation is absolutely important to make sure we see those increases.

On top of that—that increase in payments is just one element of this—we have a whole suite of measures addressing cost-of-living concerns. We have energy bill relief, cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, lifting the Medicare levy low-income thresholds, tripling the bulk-billing incentive, expanding eligibility for the Commonwealth seniors health care card, freezing social security deeming rates, expanding paid parental leave and—as I said at the very beginning—delivering bigger and better tax cuts for working Australians. We understand how tough people are doing it. That is a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer.

We also have a massive investment in social and affordable housing, with our $10 billion package and a whole range of measures to make sure that social and affordable housing can be accessed by the most vulnerable in our community. As I said before, the JobSeeker payment increased yesterday as well with indexation, and we saw that increase with lots of other pensions as well. It means that, since the government was elected, the rate of JobSeeker has increased by $120 a fortnight, or 18.7 per cent, providing over $3,100 in additional support each year. From yesterday, 20 March 2024, the higher rate of JobSeeker is $816.90 per fortnight. We understand people are still doing it tough on that, but we increased it because we know it's vitally important to do that. There is that full range of the packages I have suggested and talked about here today.

We are also absolutely committed to making sure that we are providing the resources and training and support that people need to get into the workforce. We know that so many of these people want to do that. Part of that is our fee-free TAFE, and that has been a huge success—I hear every day from people who had not been able to access training to get into jobs. So, whilst we have to provide all of that support through our safety nets, which we are doing, as well as through cost-of-living relief and tax cuts, we also have a strong focus on ensuring that people are able to access training and get into employment, because secure work, as we know, is one of the strongest forces for reducing poverty. We know that. That's our priority: to get people into work.

The current state of the labour market is a success story. Just today the unemployment rate is at 3.7 per cent. It is at a historic low. Since May 2022, around 650,000 jobs have been created, and workforce participation is at a historic high. We know we have to make sure we are investing in training and education as well as providing all of those necessary supports. As I said, that absolutely is a hallmark of Labor governments and all that we have built in terms of providing those social security safety nets. We have to do this, and we have done all of this, in a fiscally responsible manner as well, in terms of having a surplus while providing all of these necessary supports. But we do understand that people are doing it tough and we do understand that there needs to be that support provided there.

Indexation is a very important part of it. As I said yesterday, the government pointed out that there was indexation in place from 20 March. Applying this indexation to the age pension increases it to $1,116 a fortnight for singles and $1,682 a fortnight for couples. Parenting payment recipients will see an increase as well. This includes the more than 77,000 single parents—mainly women—who are benefitting from the government's decision to expand eligibility for the single parenting payment until the youngest child turns 14. What you see time and again from this government is our consistent commitment to providing that support where it's required, particularly in relation to the increase in those pensions.

As many of us would know, many people advocated for this for many years. We responded because we understand how vitally important it is. We know the challenges that people are facing today. We all speak to people every day. We know that people are doing it tough. That's why we have a whole range of cost-of-living assistance. I hear from people every day and I know that it's making a huge difference to them, particularly the increases in bulk-billing, being able to see a doctor who can bulk-bill, cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, fee-free TAFE—and, of course, paid parental leave. We're very proud as a Labor government to be increasing that as well, which will mean that a lot more women can be in the workforce. We know that it's great for families, and it's also very good for the economy. So we have done a huge amount, but at the same time we realise that it is very difficult for people within the community.

We as a Labor government are very proud of these supports. They build on our legacy of all that we have already done, whether it be the NDIS, Medicare—all of those measures that provide vital assistance to people and provide the social safety nets we have in place for people, because we know that they're doing it tough. We are committed to, and have a long history of, not leaving anyone behind. That's why we're committed to the cost-of-living measures that you heard about from us, because we know they will make a difference. Indeed, our tax cuts that are coming in from 1 July will make a massive difference.

This government is absolutely committed to providing support for Australians who are doing it tough. We absolutely understand that, and that is why we have a whole range of measures to assist them.

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