Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison coalition government knows that backing senior Australians is critical if we are to keep our economy strong. In addition, jobs growth, including for older Australians, has been strong under our government. Around a third of the more than 300,000 jobs created in the past year were for Australians over the age of 55. In our 2018-19 budget, we also expanded the pension work bonus to allow more age pensioners to earn up to $300 per fortnight in income without reducing their pension payments, including self-employed Australians. We also expanded the Pension Loans Scheme to give everyone of age-pension age the option to draw on equity in their own home. We provided more time for Australians aged 65 to 74 with less than $300,000 in super to boost their retirement savings by introducing an exemption from the superannuation work test. Around 4.8 million pensioners and allowance recipients will receive an increase in their payments on 20 September 2018. Since the Liberal-National government was elected, pensions have increased by $107.90 per fortnight for singles—