Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform. Will the minister outline to the House how the government is supporting vulnerable people, including people with disability, in my home state of Queensland? What risks are there to this support?

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie very much for that question and for all the work she does for very vulnerable people in her electorate of Petrie. Of course, this government gets on with helping people who are vulnerable in Queensland every single day.

Pensioners in Queensland now receive $4,000 more a year than they got under the previous, Liberal government—$4,000 extra a year because of this government's efforts to give that extra support. We have doubled support in Queensland for disability care and support, and of course we are helping families with low incomes by boosting family payments and introducing the new Schoolkids Bonus. All of these measures are aimed at helping vulnerable Queenslanders.

We do that because we know it is the right thing for governments to do—to stand up for those people in our society who are the most vulnerable. What do we see from those opposite and from those in the Queensland government? What we see from the Queensland government—and I am sure we will see more of it today in their budget—is massive budget cuts that are going to hurt the most vulnerable in Queensland. All of them are happening under the watchful eye of the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Treasurer who has been pinged by Campbell Newman. He has said he is incredibly supportive of what Campbell Newman has been doing up there. What is important is that we have to help those who are vulnerable.

The Acting Prime Minister and I were together with People with Disability on Sunday in Brisbane, and they are the ones who are most worried about this Leader of the Opposition and this shadow Treasurer. They are frightened about what these people are going to do, because of what they are experiencing from Campbell Newman. We know Campbell Newman's hitlist already includes domestic violence services, tenants advice services and the child protection watchdog. All of these organisations have already been slashed by Campbell Newman, and it is exactly what the people of Queensland could expect to get from this Leader of the Opposition.