Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government is happy to get on with the job. We have heard the word ‘pensions’ so many times in the last few months. Why are the senators opposite only prepared to talk about pensions now that they are in opposition? People on this side of the chamber were happy to talk about pensions while in opposition and are happy to talk about them while in government. We have got nothing to be defensive about. But those opposite, after 11 long years, do—and now you are trying to make up for lost time when you have got no power to do anything about it. Those on this side take responsibility. We understand the pressure that pensioners, especially age pensioners, are under, because a basic standard of living for those not able to support themselves is a key principle of the income support system. Every citizen should be able to meet their basic needs and to participate in Australian society.

This government is intent on properly addressing 11 years of coalition neglect. Pensioners deserve dignity in their everyday life. The unsustainable position that pensioners are in has been exacerbated by those opposite because they did not do anything in 11 long years of government. In contrast, Labor recognised the needs of pensioners in our very first budget when we substantially increased the utilities payment.

As the cost of living rises, people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. Today, in the current financial climate, we see that more than ever. This government takes the plight of pensioners very seriously. That is demonstrated by the quick action that the government has taken. You would have noted that in question time today it was said, as we are currently discussing, that it does take some time for financial markets to settle down in these current times of crisis. Notwithstanding that, there are people who have lost substantial amounts of income very quickly. My superannuation account has dropped by some $20,000 in the last year, with a proportion of that dropping rapidly in the last few weeks, so I know that those who are retired, are close to retiring or are at pension age will have lost vast sums of money on which they are currently dependent for deriving an income. So I think it is of vital significance to this debate that the government has already requested a system-wide update of customer records. This means that the new value of shares and other financial products is going to be automatically factored into determining an individual’s pension rate. In the meantime, pensioners really need to be encouraged to ask Centrelink to update their asset values at any time. I think this one act highlights very clearly the importance that the government places on managing our pensions system well.

These are complex issues. I do not think those opposite understand that. We can see from the financial crisis the number of different issues that can impact on the rate of pension that someone receives. There is a range of issues that the government is going to need to address. These include things like how pensions are taxed, the high effective marginal tax rates for pensioners when they undertake extra work, how people who want to do some work feel discouraged from doing so, the fact that the grants and rebates for disability pensioners do not cover the kinds of equipment that they need and the fact that the current system does not cater for the extra costs, once you turn 65, associated with having a disability, because you are automatically transferred from the disability pension to a seniors pension. There is also the fact that people currently have a choice about whether they want a carers payment or an aged-care pension. This causes a lot of confusion. This point was well addressed by Senator Arbib when he highlighted the way in which senators opposite want to give a pension increase to one cohort of people but not others, so if you are a single age pensioner you can have an increase but if you are a carer you cannot. In many cases these are the same people, so they have had to make a judgement call about whether they want to apply for a seniors pension or a carers pension. (Time expired)