Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday afternoon, when I had the opportunity to speak on the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016, I was talking about the energy supplement measure. I said that, as a result of negotiations we had with the government, changes to the energy supplement measure will mean that all existing categories of recipients will continue to receive this modest supplement, except for those people receiving family tax benefit and for holders of the Commonwealth seniors health card. Once again, Labor has moved to ensure that our amendments protect pensioners, single parents, carers, people with a disability and people who have lost their jobs due to the government's proposed harsh cuts.

In terms of ARENA, Labor committed to just over $300 million in investment in renewables during the election campaign, which was part of our position in relation to climate change and the renewable energy target. Once it became clear that cuts would have seen ARENA gutted, Labor looked for a constructive solution. The discussions with the government mean that Labor has now secured $800 million in funding for ARENA over five years. Importantly, this money is on top of ARENA's existing commitments and the recently announced $100 million large-scale solar round. It has also been agreed that the Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg, will meet with the shadow minister for climate change and energy, the Hon. Mark Butler, to discuss the profiling of the remaining funds over the forward estimates for a forward work program which will safeguard Australia's reputation as a world leader in research and innovation in renewable energy, building on the work of our universities and the CSIRO, and will ensure that there is support for demonstration of proof-of-concept stage development where debt and equity finance is insufficient to support projects. The government has also agreed to discuss opportunities for bipartisan agreement around policies that would accelerate the transition to a modern clean energy system that delivers reliable, affordable energy to Australian households and businesses and ensure that this transition is a just transition for impacted workers and communities.

In relation to the section of the omnibus bill which related to the child and adult public dental scheme, the arrangements with the government mean that this measure has now been deleted from the bill. Labor has saved the child dental benefits schedule. The Minister for Health and the shadow minister for health and Medicare will now enter into formal discussions with the objective of delivering the same quantum of savings as were attached to this element of the bill.

In terms of the psychiatric confinement measure, Labor opposed this measure in the original bill, as it would have unfairly disadvantaged people with serious mental illness. The government proposed to take away income support payments from people in psychiatric confinement charged with a serious offence and undergoing a course of rehabilitation. This policy would have removed support first introduced back in 1986. The recipients of this support include people suffering from very serious mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, intellectual disabilities and acquired brain injuries.

The reality of this proposal was that it would have seen a person in psychiatric confinement who has been charged with a serious crime treated the same way as a person in jail who has been charged with or convicted of an offence. Labor agrees that it is right that social security payments are not paid to a person in prison. However, we believe there is a significant difference between people who are in psychiatric confinement because of a mental impairment and who have not been found criminally responsible for their actions and ordinary criminals who are clearly responsible for their actions. This measure, thankfully, has now been removed from the bill.

In seeking changes to the bill, Labor has also come up with its own savings measures that will achieve the required amount of savings but in a much fairer way. These measures include abolishing the family tax benefit part A supplement for families with incomes greater than $80,000, which is expected to generate savings of $1.65 billion over the forward estimates. In addition, the government has agreed not to proceed with the return of the baby bonus. Labor has always opposed this measure. The payment was never about assisting families; it was much more about internal deal making between the Liberal and National parties and the Prime Minister buying the National Party's support to get the top job. This is not in the legislation before us today. We expect that the government will move amendments to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill 2016 that is before the parliament in order to reflect this aspect of the agreement reach with the opposition.

I would like to draw the attention of senators to schedule 10, the newly arrived resident's waiting period. The supplementary explanatory memorandum clarifies and explains the contingency available for all newly arrived residents to access social security in the form of special benefit if they are suffering financial hardship and suffer a substantial change of circumstance beyond their control after they have first entered Australia. As reflected in the minister's second reading speech, it is now clear that the government has agreed that any newly arrived migrants suffering hardship and subject to the newly arrived waiting period will have access to the special benefit in accordance with the existing departmental discretion. In short, if the secretary of the department is of the opinion that the person has suffered a substantial change of circumstance beyond their control after they have first entered Australia then the waiting period for special benefit may be waived.

In a general sense, in relation to the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016, the agreement with the government provides a package of fairer savings measures than had been originally outlined by the government and, indeed, improves on the government's package, bringing its budget repair savings from $5.9 billion to $6.3 billion over the forward estimates. This is more than the government originally included in the omnibus bill, and it shows just how prepared Labor is, as a constructive opposition, to repair the budget, but only in a fair and sustainable manner. Labor agreed to support 20 of the 24 measures in the original bill, but we did negotiate important changes to key areas of the bill to make sure that we were able to protect those most vulnerable and continue our advocacy for real and effective action to address climate change, and securing the additional funding for ARENA was a very important part of that.

But let us not pretend that those areas like the child and adult dental scheme changes and the changes around the psychiatric confinement measure were not significant improvements on the bill either, as was the government agreeing to not introduce the return of the baby bonus. Faced with the government's attempts to force their budget cuts, Labor has stuck to its principles. We have negotiated a stronger and fairer set of measures because we were determined to be constructive. We were committed that the position we would agree to would be one that we took to the people, but we also made it clear that we understood the need for budget repair—budget repair that is fair, repair that reflects our values as a Labor party whilst also making sure that the budget is sustainable in the long term. In total, we were able to agree on, put forward and deliver savings of $6.3 billion over the forward estimates, almost $300 million more than the government originally put forward in their bill. I commend the much improved bill to the Senate.