Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is important that this parliament do all it can to support pensioners. That is why the Rudd Labor government in its first budget, within months of coming to office, made a $7.5 billion investment in trying to alleviate conditions confronting pensioners, carers and those on disability pensions. We actually increased the utilities allowance from $125 to $500 per annum—an immediate $400 increase in the utilities allowance to help pensioners meet those costs. We also provided a $500 bonus to pensioners, again to try and insulate them against the high inflation that we inherited from the previous government. So those are two very concrete measures—in addition to some relating to telephone allowances and others—that sought to provide immediate relief to pensioners, to provide more cash to assist them given the huge interest rate pressures in the economy that the previous government created.

We acknowledge that pensioners are doing it tough, we acknowledge that more needs to be done and we immediately set about trying to address the structural issues that underpin the concern about the level of pensions. So, in addition to making the initial down payment, we said we were going to look at how we might improve the pension and support systems for pensioners in a fundamental way—not just continue to throw annual bonuses at pensioners, if and when the cash is available, but fundamentally look at how we support them, because we accept they are doing it tough. Rather than the opposition resorting to stunts, rather than them pretending they are interested and then showing no interest in pensioners when they come into this parliament, we urge them to support the fundamental review we are doing about conditions that impact on pensioners. We would ask them—