Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to indicate to the House that the government proposes that amendments that amendments Nos (1) and (8) to (13) be agreed to and that amendments Nos (2) to (7) and (14) to (16) be disagreed to. I suggest, therefore, that it may suit the convenience of the House first to consider amendments Nos (1) and (8) to (13) and, when those amendments have been disposed of, to consider amendments Nos (2) to (7) and (14) to (16). I move:

That Senate amendments (1) and (8) to (13) be agreed to.

These amendments are incredibly important to ensuring that an additional 50,000 self-funded retirees get access to the Commonwealth seniors health card, easing some of the cost-of-living pressures that they are facing. This bill was due to commence on 20 September 2022, but, due to the suspension of parliament following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the bill could not be passed in time for the increase to be implemented on 20 September 2022 as intended. As a result, the government accepts the Senate amendments to allow the increase to the income limits to take effect seven days following royal assent.

The Albanese government is committed to easing cost-of-living pressures, and this bill is a very practical example that will support older Australians. The Commonwealth seniors health card is available to Australians who have reached pension age and are ineligible for an income support payment due to their income and/or assets. Cardholders gain access to Commonwealth health concessions, including concessional co-payments for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines, and concessional thresholds for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme safety net and the extended Medicare safety net. State and territory governments and some private entities may offer additional concessions at their own discretion.

The income limit for a person who is single will increase from the current $61,284 to the new limit of $98,054. This single-person income limit also applies to a person who is a member of an illness separated couple, a member of a respite care couple or a member of a couple whose partner is in jail. The income limit for each member of a couple will increase from the current $49,027 to the new limit of $72,000. This means the Commonwealth seniors health card income limit for a couple will increase to $144,000 of combined income. These are very sensible amendments, and I commend them to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That Senate amendments (2) to (7) and (14) to (16) be disagreed to.

These amendments that have been put forward are amendments that are completely unrelated to the Commonwealth seniors health card. In fact, the amendments are based on a completely separate private member's bill introduced into the Senate on 3 August 2022 by Senator Dean Smith. The Senate 28 September 2022 amendments to the bill do not concern the Commonwealth seniors health card. They do not concern the income limits that the Commonwealth seniors health card relates to. This is a political tactic by the opposition to delay many seniors access to this important card, and I urge the opposition to stop these shenanigans.

I also would like to indicate that this bill attaches significant spending obligations to the Commonwealth, so, for the opposition to suggest that we are somehow fiscally conservative—that is a joke when it comes to these amendments. The appropriate place to consider these amendments is in the time of private members bills. Or I invite the opposition to consider amendments in the separate Social Services Legislation Amendment (Workforce Incentive) Bill, where it is in a much more appropriate position to be discussed.

By rejecting these amendments, we are sending a clear message to seniors that we are not going to stand in the way of them getting extra support for medicine, extra support on health care and extra support for the cost of living. Any delay to this bill by the opposition by playing politics and adding unrelated measures just shows that they are not serious about helping seniors in their time of need. I ask the House to reject and disagree to the amendments.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will be supporting these amendments that have come back from the Senate. We say to the Minister for Social Services: you've already broken your commitment to Australians. You promised to deliver this much sooner than you did. The mismanagement we see from this minister, the mismanagement in the Senate and indeed the mismanagement in the House means that Australians are waiting longer. The minister can seek to try to blame the Senate, who voted for these very sensible amendments. On behalf of the coalition, I commend Senator Dean Smith, who moved a number of these amendments and subsequently amended the bill as passed by the Senate.

The amendments give rise to several coalition initiatives, and we congratulate the government for adopting these coalition initiatives—although we don't congratulate them on being on a go-slow in delivering them. Firstly, these amendments double the age and veteran pension work bonus scheme, the amount that can be earned without impacting pension payments increasing from $300 $600 per fortnight. It also ensures that working pensioners can continue to accrue the unused work bonus scheme income up to the cap of $7,800, exempting future earnings for pension income test purposes. This proposal was announced by the Opposition Leader on 26 June 2022, and was primarily aimed at getting older people back into work and encouraging them back to work or to work longer hours to help ease labour shortages. The minister, who was on the go-slow, did not see the urgency of those labour shortages, and we now find ourselves in the position where, instead of just adopting and accepting the proposal put forward by the opposition, in a pig-headed and stubborn way, the government sought to do it in a different way. The Senate has rejected that.

Secondly, these amendments ensure that pensions will be suspended for up to two years if they exceed the income cap, during which time pensioners will undergo a simplified process to resume their pension once their income falls to the relevantly prescribed level. Both age and disability support pensioners will be able to keep their pensioner concession card for two years as an acknowledgement of, as we said before the election, the importance of the concessions that the PCC offers. Pensioner partners of working pensioners will also enjoy the same pension and PCC arrangements.

We see here a government who promised to deliver this much more quickly. Seniors have had to wait for this to be introduced. It was three months late when it was introduced and now it's five months late. Sadly, the minister has failed those seniors. A majority of the Senate have supported these amendments, and we will therefore be supporting these excellent amendments put forward by Senator Dean Smith on behalf of the coalition.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendments be disagreed to.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the reasons for the House disagreeing to Senate amendments (2) to (7) and (14) to (16), and I move:

That the reasons be adopted.

Question agreed to.