Kay Patterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in response to a question put to Senator Kemp by Senator Claire Moore regarding carers payment for parents for children who have a profound disability and who are under 16 years of age. When we first came into government in 1996, there was a carers payment to people caring for someone who required care. The carers payment is in lieu of someone who would otherwise be paid to go to work. It is usually for people under 65 years of age, although some people who receive a carers payment are over 65. However, those people usually move to the aged care pension because of its portability and other issues that mean that they are better off on it or because they prefer to be on it.

Senator Newman came into this chamber when we were facing $96 billion worth of debt that Labor had left us. We were paying about $8½ billion or more in interest. People who have mortgages know that when you have a debt you pay interest on it. We were $96 billion in debt and paying about $8½ billion in interest—mostly overseas, I presume—for that debt. Despite that and despite the fact that we were tightening our belts, Senator Newman fought long and hard to get a measure through cabinet for parents who were caring for a profoundly disabled child under 16 years of age—and of course it was limited earlier on because we were trying to rein in the debt. Senator Newman also brought in a measure that, if there were two children in a family with a degenerative disease—and often with a degenerative disease a person is slowly deteriorating—and those two children made demands on the carer equivalent to those of a child with a profound disability, the carer would get the carers payment.

For the first time in the history of Australia, carers with a child under 16 who had a profound disability or who had two children with a degenerative disease and who qualified because their care was the equivalent of looking after a child with a profound disability received a carers payment. Never, ever had it crossed Labor’s mind or lips to assist those people. Mind you, Labor were spending like there was no tomorrow—$10 billion in the last year they were in government, but not on carers of children with a profound disability. As we paid back some of the debt, Senator Vanstone was able to extend that. When I was minister, we had a review of some of the issues within the carers payment.

So for Labor to come in here and give examples of children whose parents might not qualify—I know that Mr Brough is looking at that again—is to have such gall and front, when we go back and look at the history. Prior to 1996 there was not one single parent of a profoundly disabled child under 16 whose parents received any assistance in the form of a carers payment—not one. It pays to have been here for a while to remember exactly what Labor’s record is. They come in here under the cover of ‘I care about these people. Look at us, we’ve got the heart. We’re people who care,’ but they never remind people that, when they were in government, they did not give one single cent in carers payment to a family with a child with a profound disability. So it is crocodile tears.

While on my feet, I may as well remind honourable senators what we have done for carers since we have been in government. We extended the time that carers can be away from the person for whom they care and not lose their pension. We increased the amount of time that a person on a carers payment could work and not lose it. Labor never remind people about that. Because we paid back the debt and reduced taxes, we have been able to ensure that people on carers payments and other benefits receive some assistance. As a result of the fact that we paid back the debt, we have been able to give people who are in the workforce or people who are retired and who have investments some tax relief. We have also been able to give people on a carers payment $1,000 extra at the end of the budget year for the last three years. This is because we have managed the economy well. Never did anyone on a carers payment see any money when Labor were in government.

We have put in $25 million to acknowledge young carers—some as young as five, six, seven, 11 and 13—who are assisting in the care of a disabled sibling. There are also some children who at 13 years of age and on their own are caring for parents with multiple sclerosis. We have given $25 million to those young people to provide them with respite, assistance, counselling and a hotline so that they can find out how to get a wheelchair. Labor is all talk and no action. (Time expired)