Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I identify with the words of the member for Fowler with regard to domestic violence. I was not going to speak again on single parent families until I received an email today. It was from an Australian teacher, Haje Halabi, and he is from the Jakarta International School. It said at the bottom of the email that children are one-third of our population and all of our future. What we want for our children is hope for the future, some control over their lives and a sense of belonging. Given that, the future is yet to be written but the decisions that we make today will go a long way towards its construction. For many of Australia's most marginalised I see a future where nothing is won unless it is taken.

There are too many alarming anomalies in the welfare system to ignore. While we quite rightly support our older Australians I do not believe we are giving families the same backing. A family earning more than $48,837 per year loses the maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit A, making them ineligible for a health card. This family with three children, with a father earning not more than $39,000 and a mother earning less than $10,000, does not receive a health card. This family, which has a 13-year-old asthma sufferer, an eight-year-old with a bronchial cough he can never shake and a five-year-old who has a regular ear infection, does not get a health card to help them out. While the medical and health costs continue to mount—with $18 for an Able Spacer, $10 for eardrops and countless more spent on a persistent bronchial cough, not to mention even more expensive pills and potions for everyone's winter ailments—this family does not get a health card. This family, who can barely afford school supplies, a night out or a doctor, does not give a health card.

Those couples in our community with an annual adjusted income of up to $80,000—or $100,000 for couples separated by illness, respite care or where one partner may be in prison—may qualify for a Commonwealth seniors health card. I do not have to explain the benefits given by a Commonwealth seniors health card, including pharmaceutical benefits, prescription medicines and other discounts. Under the work bonus scheme, for instance, a single age pensioner can earn $250 a fortnight from work without fear of losing benefits. In fact, a pensioner with no other source of income can earn up to $406 a fortnight and still receive the maximum rate for the age pension. By comparison, for every dollar over $62 a fortnight that a sole parent on Newstart earns in paid employment, 40c in the dollar is taken from her benefits—an effective tax rate.

I do honour older Australians; I have always honoured older Australians for to the contribution they have made to our country. For many others, especially those children brought up living in poverty in sole parent and low-income families, the future will always be something dark looming on the horizon. They will often be suffering poorer health, doing less well at school and suffering low self-esteem. Cast aside while the more privileged are given a helping hand, these children feel aggrieved. They will someday grow up into aggrieved adults. What are we to expect of these tens of thousands of children pushed to the margins of society by uncaring decisions of this nation? Do we expect them to grow up and become law-abiding taxpayers, when we have shown them so little concern in their most desperate days? Should we show surprise if more than a few turn against us, biting the hand that failed to feed them?

Australia's human capital should be viewed as our most valuable resource, especially when it comes to children. Society, as a collective, is healthiest when all of its parts are in good shape. Look around the world today and you will see the destructive nature of poverty. It may only directly affect one small group, but the infection spreads, leading to poorer standards in schools, higher crime rates, lower productivity in industry and lower aspirations across the board. A healthy society is one where everybody at least has a chance to get a piece of the pie. Being locked out, forgotten and disregarded leads only to resentment—a powerful poison that barely dilutes through successive generations. Some of these figures will change on 20 March. According to legislation passed by the previous government, the minimum amount a Newstart sole parent can earn will rise from $62 to $100.

Sole parent families are already facing extreme hardship, with poverty rates at 19.3 per cent—more than double that of couples with families and children. Last year, one in eight Australians was living in poverty, with close to 600,000 of them being children. Half of those children are cared for by a sole parent.