Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I think the Prime Minister placed that on record a year ago. This assistance is ongoing. The amount of the assistance will be adjusted each year in the budget context. This is this government’s commitment. Obviously if a coalition government at some point is elected I cannot speak for what their policy would be. Our government’s commitment is that we would continue the assistance. The amount of the assistance or the adequacy of the assistance will be reviewed each year in the budget context. It is important to understand that the cost impact of putting a price on carbon is related to what that price is. If the price on carbon is high, therefore the revenue stream is high, therefore we can give more assistance to Australian households.

In relation to the question about where it is coming from in the budget, this scheme is essentially self-funding. Over the 10 years it is actually budget negative. But the households package continues to be funded out of the revenue stream. So the more polluters pay, the more that impacts in terms of the carbon price, and then we provide more assistance to Australian families. We make no apology for prioritising low-income Australia and middle-income Australia and providing that assistance. You asked about the level of assistance, the review of assistance and why we were giving so much to low-income Australians. We have made a policy decision about that. Then I think you asked about how we assessed overall cost increases: they are the average cost increase assumed for that household type. That is why we do have an additional amount built in for a great number of family types. Senator, you are about to jump up again; you have said now on two occasions that this was your last question.