Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The previous speaker, the member for Sturt, actually served in the last government. He was elected in 2019, and his government did such a great job in his electorate that he got a 7.4 per cent swing against him in his electorate on a two-party preferred basis. That's how good an economic job his government did for the people of South Australia and for Sturt, in the suburbs of Adelaide. So he shouldn't give us lectures about economic performance! When the coalition was in last in power, inflation was over six per cent and it's in the mid-threes now with us.

We know people are doing it tough—we know that! But the coalition mucked up their response to the global financial crisis when we were last in government, and wouldn't support infrastructure and cost-of-living relief after the first tranche. And then when it came to COVID, they spent money willy-nilly: $20 billion dollars was just thrown away. Seriously, they shouldn't give us lectures on economic responsibility and management when they ran up massive deficits and massive debts.

This legislation before the chamber is about providing much-needed relief from the cost of living. I would have more faith in the opposition if they had actually bothered to vote for energy relief when it came up last time. When we sought support for making cost-of-living relief measures in this chamber, those opposite sat on the benches to vote no. So I'm pleased today that they're actually going to vote yes; it's one of those rare occasions when the coalition is actually going to support a cost-of-living relief measure. It's almost a hallelujah, because those opposite have not supported virtually any of those at any stage in the last two years. We're providing support here, but they said when they were in government: 'Wage increases? Don't like those!' and 'Don't like those,' when they're in opposition. So, Member for Sturt, don't give us lectures here about how this is going to be sucked up by inflation, when inflation was nearly twice as high under you and when you won't support energy price relief or wage increases.

This legislation is very important because it provides relief for those who are battling. And, of course, we increased rent assistance by 15 per cent in the last budget and by 10 per cent in this budget. Those opposite had at least nine budgets. They had a MYEFO as well every year. They could have done this stuff when they were in government, but they never had the wit or wisdom to do it. But, in opposition, they've had a sort of conversion experience and now they're supporting it. It's great to see that they've found the need to support low- and middle-income people as well as people battling away. This might seem like a big title, but it will have a real impact on people in my electorate and around the country, including in the member for Sturt's electorate—the preacher for those opposite. The bloke has got economic responsibility all over him, yet he can't bring himself to vote for cost-of-living relief when given an opportunity.

We got elected in May 2022, and we've been working pretty well every day during that time to help people as we battle inflation, which has gone around the Western world. The measures in this bill add to the power relief support we provided, the cheaper medicines, the freeze on social security deeming rates, the strengthening of Medicare, the tripling of the bulk-billing rate and the delivery of tax cuts that everyone is going to get from 1 July this year. Those opposite first wanted an election. Then they were going to roll it back. Then they voted for it. They never talk about it, but they grudgingly support it. They've got a strange attitude, because people earning up to around $45,000 a year would have got nothing under them. They would have received no support whatsoever in terms of tax relief. But, in my electorate, 80,000 people are getting tax relief, and 72,000 of them are getting more than they would have got if the member for Sturt's side of politics had won the last election. So we're providing about $1,380 per annum of additional assistance.

This legislation builds on a comprehensive cost-of-living relief package, which I've started to outline. We're investing $2 billion to provide more support in the social safety net, with changes to income support. I want to go specifically to what's in this bill. It provides $1.9 billion to increase the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent. As I said before, it was 15 per cent in the last budget and it's 10 per cent this time. We're providing $41.2 million to extend the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work less than 15 hours a week. That's a very good social justice measure. There's $18.6 million to change the 25-hour-per-week participation rule for carer payment recipients to instead allow 100 hours over a four-week settlement period. That's a reality measure which affects people, because they have flexible work and life arrangements. So this is a good thing.

The 10 per cent increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance is very, very important. In Queensland, 238,710 households will benefit from that. In my electorate of Blair, around Ipswich, the Somerset region and the Karana Downs region, 12,630 households will benefit. That builds on the previous amount. We're taking the maximum rate to over 40 per cent higher than it was in May 2022. In nine years of those opposite, there was nothing. They did nothing in this area. The government's extending the eligibility for the higher JobSeeker rate for those with an assessed partial capacity to work between zero and 14 hours per week so that those with barriers to employment who aren't able to work due to their condition and do not qualify for the disability support pension can receive an additional $52.20 a fortnight. That benefits over 1,045 people in the state of Queensland. That is a really good measure to help people.

We're making some changes to the participation limit for carer payment to allow more flexibility in the hours carers work, study or volunteer over a four-week period as well as changes to the temporary cessation of care days which provide respite. Around 31,000 carer payment recipients currently report employment earnings and may benefit from their ability to work more flexibly. Think about that—31,000. Tonight they'll watch the State of Origin. Think of the crowd there. Visualise 31,000 people. That's the number of people with the capacity to benefit from this measure. With these changes to income support, the government is providing around $2 billion over the forward estimates to strengthen the social safety net. Those opposite did nothing for nine years. These measures were informed by a very good committee. I have a huge respect for Jenny Macklin, a former minister in the previous Labor government. I worked closely with her in the area of Indigenous affairs and social security, and she had a great attitude to social security reform. She has had a long-time commitment to social justice, and she chaired the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, which recommended these measures. We're making huge changes in this area.

In addition, as part of the employment white paper, the government has delivered two immediate actions for pension and income support recipients. It has permanently enhanced the work bonus for pensioners over the age pension age. I've had so many constituents come and talk to me about that issue, so I'm really pleased about that. We're doubling the employment income nil rate period to 12 fortnights to reduce barriers for income support recipients to take up work by allowing them to retain concession cards and other supplementary benefits for a longer period when they first get back into employment. So these changes are delivering a strong and sustainable safety net but they're also social justice measures.

One of the reasons I'm a member of the Labor Party, and proud of it, is our longstanding commitment to a strong and sustainable social security safety net. It's so important. My parents, and my grandparents before them, didn't get access to the kinds of social security supports being delivered by the Labor government. I think of the stories that my grandmother and my mother told me. I grew up in pretty tough circumstances, and so did my family. I think of the lack of social security payments—the lack of what we call child support. We didn't get that support, so when we got Medibank, now called Medicare, when Bill Hayden was the social security minister, it made a big difference to our lives. Pay rises made a big difference to our lives. Any form of social security made a big difference to our lives in a working-class community in a working-class suburb in Ipswich. These are the things I'm proudest of as a Labor member of parliament.

I'm so pleased we're making these changes, because they are about the kind of Australia I want, where everyone gets a chance, where no-one is left behind and everyone gets an opportunity. It doesn't matter where you live—whether you live in Riverview; Ipswich, where I live; Springfield; the Somerset region—you get access to Commonwealth rent assistance if you need it. You get flexibility in your family situation, your work-life balance, when you need it. You get access to pension indexation—which those opposite think is a waste of money, and rail against—when you need it. They're the kinds of changes that Labor governments make. They are what motivates so many on this side of the aisle, because we have lived it. We know the difference a strong and sustainable safety net will make in the lives of people in our communities, because it made a difference to our lives. Changes that Labor governments make are always on the side of the battlers—the poor, the weak and the oppressed in the biblical sense—and that's what this change is about. I commend the minister for this legislation, because I know that in my community tens of thousands of people will be better off because this Labor government is passing this kind of legislation to provide a better life for everyone who needs it.

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