Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How has the Albanese Labor government helped Australians receive income support payments? What approaches would leave Australians on these payments worse off?

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

I'd like to thank the member for Werriwa for her question and for her advocacy for families and people in her electorate. Of course, throughout this term of government, Labor has been working hard to support every Australian deal with the global cost-of-living pressures that they are under. That includes people on income support payments and, of course, family payments. We know that it has been tough for many people, and that's why the Albanese Labor government has worked hard to bring inflation down, get wages moving, keep unemployment low and ease the cost of living. This includes action to strengthen our social security safety net, to raise working-age payments and student payments, to give single parents more support and to boost Commonwealth rent assistance to help people manage rental pressures.

Alongside that, we also have our regular indexation, to ensure that payments keep pace with the cost of living. Combined with indexation and our back-to-back increases in Commonwealth rent assistance, rent assistance has increased by 45 per cent in the three years since Labor was elected. Pensions are up by 16.7 per cent, giving a single age pensioner an extra $150 in their pocket every fortnight. This is complemented by Labor's changes to make medicines cheaper, to help households with their power bills and to strengthen Medicare.

The member has asked me what other approaches there could be to make people worse off, and I will point her to those opposite, who have declared that government spending on increases in payments, increases in rent assistance and indexation is reckless and wasteful. If elected, they've said that they will start by making $350 billion worth of cuts to government payments and government services. This is to pay for their $600 billion nuclear folly. We know that this means cuts for pensioners, single parents, students and families. You might ask: how do we know that? We know it because they've done it before. We all remember 'no cuts to the pension'. That was a Tony Abbott promise. When they were in government, they cut the pension, they cut family payments and they tried to end bulk-billing and make medicines more expensive.

There is a choice in this election. Australians can look to us, the Labor government, to build a better future, or to those opposite, who cannot deal with the costs that this Leader of the Opposition will impose. When he cuts, Australians pay. (Time expired)

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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