Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am a little lost for words after listening to the contributions of my colleagues in the chamber. In particular, Senator Lines has just spoken about the language the Prime Minister used for his audacious and heartless ripping away of support for pensioners across this nation, which he called a cash splash. To deceive the Australian public and pretend that there would be no cuts or changes to pensions before the election is just appalling. But to be in the position of Prime Minister and to be so disrespectful as to describe as a 'cash splash' money which the seniors of this country count on, money which they budget down to the last cent to balance their books, reveals the breathtaking arrogance of the man who used those words. The insult of taking money away is one thing, but to treat our pensioners as fools and to be so disrespectful is another. It is something for which the ageing people of Australia will not forgive this Prime Minister.

There is nothing to sugar-coat the life of an age pensioner. Perhaps their engagement with their grandchildren, their family and their friends goes a long way to making their hard-won retirement a great thing. But the facts are that, for many Australians, they have worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes, raised a family most likely and contributed to the national economy, and then they retire. Retirement in Australia for more than 2.3 million Australians does not mean a world cruise, time to spend at the country club or living it up in the lap of luxury. It means a life on a pension and the careful financial management that is part of that life. It actually means getting by on $421.10 a week for singles and $635.30 combined for couples. That is not an easy task, but our pensioners do it and they manage it. They count on the Seniors Supplement that this government has introduced legislation into this place to remove. For too many pensions already it means scrimping on every dollar. It means watching every cent at the supermarket. It means cutting back on heating during cold winters and cutting back on the cooling during the hot summers just to keep the electricity bill manageable. This piece of legislation is set to take away money from millions of seniors in this country, to exacerbate any challenges they face. It is a deliberate and wilful attack on the ageing people of this nation.

Living on a pension for many means a very, very challenging life. If you are an age pensioner it is likely that your nest egg is pretty modest, built from hard work and savings that for many of you, indeed most of you, predate compulsory employer contributions to superannuation. This process has changed things for those who are now going to be its beneficiaries. This Labor visionary process has established the opportunity for those who are beginning their work life to see their retirement in a different way. For many of our seniors, while their family is supportive and their dignity defines them, they do not want to ask for charity. They are quite happy to manage, and they are managing with the Seniors Supplement that this government is attempting to take way from them—determined to take way from them—in this legislation.

A legitimate means tested payment like the Seniors Supplement is available only if you hold a Seniors Health Card. It is not charity. It is a hand-up which many of our seniors absolutely rely on. It helps our seniors to maintain their dignity and independence. It is a small thing that helps them meet the ongoing costs of running a household. Tony Abbott's budget has no respect for the dignity of the seniors of this nation. The budget of this government has no regard for what it is like to struggle to make ends meet. This piece of legislation is seeking to undermine pensioners' living standards by what the Treasury has predicted will be $80 a week in 10 years time. That is an awful lot of money for somebody living on a relatively low, fixed income.

The Combined Pensioners and Superannuates Association of New South Wales say that pensioners will be $100 worse off in 10 years time—and I guess it is their business to know. They are passionate and powerful advocates for the sector, and I know that they are counting on Labor to push back against this terrible piece of legislation coming from those opposite. From 1 September 2017, under Tony Abbott's discriminatory budget, the age pension will be tacked solely to the consumer price index. As we know, the index most often taken as a benchmark, out of the three indices available under the present system, is Male Total Average Weekly Earnings, calculated at 27.7 per cent of male average earnings. This index, the one which Labor agreed with, has consistently returned the highest result for the calculation of a pension increase, because wage growth has generally exceeded CPI. The decision to use the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings index is about making sure that the quality of life of those on a pension moves in sync with the wages of the people who are living in the community around them. It seems fair to me. Labor agrees with it, because we believe in fairness. This legislation, however, reveals that the other side do not believe in fairness but rather believe in taking the most from those who have the least.

Tony Abbott's plan to rely only on the CPI will have a significant effect on pensioners across Australia. For example, had the Prime Minister's new system been in place for the past four years, the single pension, which today is $854 a fortnight, would only be $762. Now that is a very big difference and would have a material impact on the life of a pensioner. It is a whopping $92 or 11 per cent difference—money that pensioners can ill afford to lose. On top of this huge cut, he is trying to remove the Seniors Supplement. Quite simply, Labor will not stand for it. The people who voted for Labor in the last election knew that when the time came we would fight for fairness, and that is what is happening in this chamber this evening. It is a fight about fairness—Labor on the right side of history, looking after ordinary, average, hardworking Australians; and those on the other side determined to heap disadvantage on those who have the least capacity to pay.

Nearly five months ago, Labor announced it would support sensible savings in this year's budget, but because of the Prime Minister's determination to cut the pension and determination to savage family tax benefit, to leave young people without income support for six months, we have refused to support such outrageous efforts by the government. And now we have the modelling done by the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association using just the CPI to predict that the pension is going to lose the value of $100 a week within 10 years.

The increases in the cost of PBS medications, the GP co-payment and the massive cut to the national partnership agreement on concessions which means that pensioners stand to lose their state-based concessions on bills such as council rates, gas, electricity, water, transport and car rego, are real and material impacts on people's lives. They will change how pensioners are able to live and for some it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. It will just push them over the edge. They are concessions that pensioners rely on every day. They are relying on the hope that state governments will find money in their budgets to pick up the slack left by the Abbott government's abandonment of its responsibility to the Australian people. Day after day, certainly in this week, we have seen this government attack every sector of the community that is vulnerable. Today, the retirement security of our Australian pensioners is right at the fore.

One of the things that is most infuriating for the seniors whom this legislation is designed to affect is that Mr Abbott stated that a letter claiming the government is cutting pensions 'is not true; there are no cuts to pensions'. This is clearly a significant cut to pensions and to pensioners. The impact of this is absolutely devastating for many people right across this country.

I want to go to the numbers of those who will be affected in the seats which, as a duty senator for New South Wales, I represent. I live on the Central Coast of New South Wales, as the Acting Deputy President would be aware. It is a beautiful place which draws to it many retirees who have worked and now seek a sea change. It is a very welcoming community. The retirees contribute an enormous amount, particularly in volunteerism and they bring wisdom to our community. In the seat of Dobell, 1,577 people will lose if Tony Abbott wins today. In the seat of Robertson, just south of Dobell, 2,202 hard-working Australians who are relying on this concession payment will lose if Tony Abbott wins today. In the seat of Paterson, a little further north, 2,220 families—