Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers again—having spoken to the single age pensioner legislation only last week—because I am absolutely staggered at the continued accusations of those on the other side of the chamber who continue to suggest that not only is this a political stunt but it is also an indecent assault on the process of this good chamber. With respect to Senator Crossin, Mr Deputy President, I would suggest that one of the strengths of what we do and our responsibilities is to consult with our constituents and to respond to what their needs are in the community.

Since I rose in the chamber last week to speak on the legislation, my phone lines have been in meltdown because older Australians are absolutely outraged by the continued disdain that the government shows. This has continued since the passage of the bill from this chamber yesterday. It is now sitting at the steps of the House of Representatives because they will not prioritise it, they do not consider it to be important and they are not putting it on their agenda. It is an absolute disgrace and it is a sure sign of the static way in which this government manages the affairs of this country.

I have to respond to some comments that Senator Crossin just made in relation to her suggestion that the Howard-Costello government did nothing for 11 years. On the contrary—you cannot rewrite history by making it up on the run. The figures and statistics stand up for themselves and you cannot rewrite history. The Howard-Costello government were concerned about the capacity of pensioners to cope with the daily inflationary pressures that they were facing. And so accordingly pensions were raised two per cent on average over that 10- to 11-year period. The Howard-Costello government, given the surpluses generated through their conservative financial management of this country, determined that they would give one-off payments to pensioners of $500 per annum to help defray increasing costs in utilities—whether it was energy, gas, telephone bills, but a one-off payment was given—to ensure that they had increased capacity to deal with costs that they were feeling the pinch from.

They also initiated the Senate Community Affairs Committee inquiry into the cost of living pressures on older Australians, the conclusions of which were only brought down in March of this year. It is interesting to note that the conclusions and the findings of that committee were brought down under the Rudd government. The conclusions include the fact that there were significant demographic changes occurring in our country and that by 2042 one-quarter of all Australians would be 65 and over. So even blind Freddy would realise that the labour market will become more static over time, that there will be a slowdown in economic growth and that in actual fact there will be fewer people in the workforce who will be able to pay the taxes that will be able to help support older Australians and in turn those pensions.

As I mentioned last time, in Deakin, an electorate where I am a patron senator, there are 6,243 single pensioners. In Chisholm, where Anna Burke is the Labor member, there are some 6,142 single pensioners. They do not want a Labor government that is not looking after them. They are all desperately in need of this support, and we seek the passage of this bill into the House of Representatives so it can be dealt with in an expeditious manner.