Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to return to the parliament today. I come on the back of a very strong wave of community anger, uncertainty and fear from my electorate about the Rudd Labor government’s refusal to rule out slashing the lump sum payment to members of my community who need it most. Within hours of the first reports last week of the Labor government’s ruthless razor gang setting its sights on the $1,000 and $600 payments to carers, my office was inundated with calls from concerned locals. In the days since, the phones have kept ringing, I have been sent emails, people have personally come into my office, and I have been stopped in the street by people terrified that one of the major lifelines to them is about to be unceremoniously snatched away by an uncaring and inexperienced government.

I would like to allay the fears of my constituents and their carers, but the shameful truth is that the Prime Minister, with whom the buck stops, even today has refused to provide any surety and clarity by failing to explicitly state his position on any future assistance for some of the most vulnerable and deserving members of our community.

It is all very well for the Prime Minister and his merry gang of axe-wielding budget slashers to speak of reviewing spending and keeping a close eye on inflationary pressures, but that is something that should not be done at the cost of driving fear and uncertainty into the homes and hearts of the nation’s and of my electorate’s hardworking carers. This is an unthinkable and, in fact, shameful act. Perhaps the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance and Deregulation should cut back on their clandestine and conspiratorial gatherings where new targets are primed for the razor gang and instead rejoin the real world where carers do unending work 24/7 to the good not only of their close friends and relatives but of the community. Perhaps those who do not value carers in this community, like the Prime Minister, should speak to the people in their own electorates and judge for themselves whether funding carers is as expendable as the Prime Minister would like to think.

My electorate has a very large group of carers, many of whom come together in fellowship of support at community gatherings. I have been able to visit some of these, and I have heard firsthand their stories. I am in no doubt that the bonus to recipients of carers payments and allowances is well deserved and a vital supplement for the household budgets where a family member is in need of permanent care. It is especially so for those carers who perform their duties with unassuming anonymity. These are people who give up their time and sometimes their careers and social networks to care for family members, whether they be their parents, their children or members of their extended family. They are people who perform their duties without expectation of reward or recognition. Often many people in the community may not even be aware of their extra responsibilities. Just because their work is done away from the public spotlight, that does not mean that carers’ needs should be swept aside by this callous government.

Carers give their time in the fair belief that they will not be left scrambling to feed, clothe or support themselves or their loved ones. This is exactly what this government has done by creating uncertainty about future funding arrangements. The Prime Minister has created an environment of unease in which carers and now seniors are left wondering what their futures will hold. These question marks are adding unnecessarily to the stresses of households that already have more than their fair share of pressures. There can be no taking back the emotional upheaval of the Rudd Labor government and what it has inflicted on these families in the past few days. At the very least, the Prime Minister should bring this cruel guessing game to an end.