Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. Will the minister please inform the House of steps the government is making to make pensions fairer and more sustainable for all Australians but especially those pensioners in my electorate of Petrie?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. We had the opportunity recently to be at the Kurrajong Sanctuary retirement village in Burpengary and to discuss these very issues. What I was able to tell them was what we were able to legislate in the House today—that we are increasing the pension for those with a low and moderate level of assets. Those pensioners in Petrie will join 170,000 others around the country who will get an increase in their pension from 1 January of $30 a fortnight, and more than 90 per cent of pensioners will be either unaffected or will have an increase in their pension as a result of the measures that we are introducing.

It is interesting to note that those opposite today voted against a pension increase for those with a low and modest level of assets. But it was not only that that happened, because we read in The Australian today that, as Labor tossed and turned over these issues, the dynamic duo that now forms their economic team, the member for McMahon and the member for Watson, were rolled in the shadow ERC over this. So the special brand of genius that they both brought to the Immigration portfolio they have brought to their economic team. If they cannot manage to run an argument in the shadow ERC, how can they pretend to the Australian people they could run one in the actual ERC?

What has also happened is that they have created a policy vacuum opposite, Madam Speaker, and that policy vacuum has been filled by the Australian Greens, would you believe it? The vacuum of policy credibility was created by those opposite, and the Australian Greens have had to enter that vacuum. But there is also good news for the constituents in Petrie because we are fixing the budget mess that was left by those opposite, and this measure, the single-largest saving measure, will pass the other place. Those opposite in the debate were wondering why this was now necessary.

The member for Lilley would know, because he is the one who gifted us the fiscal mess. I noticed that the member for Lilley was with Dasher this morning down at Aussies. Maybe they were rehearsing a re-enactment for episode 4! But they are in denial about the fact that they have created this policy vacuum and the Greens have filled it. If they are very serious about their opposition to the bill that they voted against today, they can fix it. They can commit to reverse this measure, because it does not come in until 1 January 2017. If they will not do that, we know that this is a hollow commitment from a hollow man hollowing out the soul of the Labor Party.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.