Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I speak to the Social Security Amendment (COVID-19 Supplement) Bill 2020. The fact is that the Morrison government have managed this economic crisis better than most countries in the Western world, and we've done it in a way that brings all Australians along with us. We've demonstrated care and compassion for workers and for the disadvantaged, like the disabled and those on pensions. We've provided unprecedented support to businesses and we've prepared Australia for the steady recovery that we're already beginning to see. We've already extended the coronavirus supplement for an additional period of three months until the end of December, and we will continue to closely monitor the situation and respond to the economic circumstances and, in particular, the labour market.

If the coronavirus supplement is required after December, it will be continued. The government is focused on responding to the situation as it unfolds and will make further decisions around the extension of the coronavirus supplement as the year draws to an end. These are unprecedented times, and we will not pre-empt the circumstances we may find ourselves in later. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide appropriate support.

From the outset, this supplement was a temporary measure to provide additional support for allowance recipients in recognition of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has directly impeded people's ability to find and retain paid work. The economy was disrupted due to health restrictions earlier this year. In response to this sudden and unexpected situation we provided the supplement as well as expanded access to the payment through the waiver of waiting periods and changes to eligibility criteria. We've put in place a comprehensive economic response—JobKeeper, enhancements right across the income support system, early access to super, HomeBuilder, and cash flow support to business—which is providing unprecedented support to Australians. Our response to date is close to 16 per cent of GDP. That measure is estimated to increase real GDP by around 4.25 per cent in 2021. Since the budget, we've benefited from updated labour force figures, weekly payroll jobs figures and a clearer sense of how health restrictions are relaxing, especially in Victoria. We'll make a decision before the end of the year and communicate that to the Australian people.

While there've been encouraging jobs figures in recent months, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. As the government has continually demonstrated, we will be flexible, monitor the economic situation and respond as the situation evolves. We will ensure that Australians who are accessing JobSeeker and any related payments receive notice about any changes to their rates. But right now, the path is clear: we are providing an additional level of support while encouraging and helping people to get back into the workforce. We understand that the jobs market is shallow at the moment, but there are still jobs out there. We have to strike the right balance between temporary enhanced support and incentives to work. They may not be full-time, and they may be in different industries, but we have heard from business groups and businesses through the jobs in demand survey that an increasing number of employers are naming a lack of applicants as the reason they're struggling to employ. That's why, from 25 September, we increased the income-free area for the JobSeeker payment, which means that people can earn $300 without affecting any of their Centrelink payments. We want people to get out there and take up job opportunities, because we know people who report earnings to Centrelink are twice as likely to get off their payment within a year.

We're focused on the issue at hand, which is providing Australians additional support to get us through to the other side of the pandemic. It would not be reasonable for the government to make long-term structural changes to our payment system in the middle of a very fluid health and economic situation, especially when it's unclear what the new normal on the other side might even look like. We're committed to our values: a targeted, sustainable welfare system that encourages participation in the workforce and provides a safety net, rather than a wage replacement, to people as they transition into employment. These values served us well before the crisis and will continue to underpin our social safety net in the new normal on the other side.

Before this crisis, we had created 1.5 million jobs, and the proportion of working aged people relying on welfare was the lowest it had been in more than 30 years. In addition to payments, there are many other welfare benefits available to help reduce the cost of living. For example, everyone who receives the JobSeeker payment is eligible for some form of additional assistance from the welfare system, such as rent assistance of up to $185.36 a fortnight for families with three or more children, and family tax benefit part A, of up to $246.54 a fortnight per child for children aged between 13 and 19 years, and part B, of up to $161.14 a fortnight per child for children under five years. There are also the pharmaceutical allowance and telephone and energy supplements.

Few countries have provided the strong safety net that we enjoy. Few countries provide a non-contributory taxpayer funded payment that provides help for people while they search for work. We recognise there are times when people need a safety net to help them, when they're down on their luck and looking for work, but JobSeeker is funded by the Australian taxpayer and it needs to be managed responsibly. This responsibility extends to future generations, who will have to meet the cost of the system in decades to come. Our focus going forward will be on people getting back to jobs, businesses reopening and seeing Australians move into a new COVID-safe world, where protections are in place that maximise the amount of activity that they can undertake.

The Morrison government has a history of delivering job opportunities, providing pathways and breaking down barriers for people on welfare. There were 330,000 fewer working age recipients on income support payments between June 2014 and June 2019. The JobSeeker base rate payment is $565. In March, the government made the decision to introduce a temporary supplement to deal with the unprecedented health and economic crisis we were facing. What we did through the supplement and through JobKeeper was to throw a blanket over all Australians, at a time when health restrictions required an effective lockdown not just of the economy but, in fact, of everything. We said at the time, and we've continued to say since then, that those measures were temporary. We've not increased the base rate of JobSeeker, because we never intended for the coronavirus supplement to be permanent.

Our core principles of the role of JobSeeker payment have not changed. It's a safety net payment that provides Australians with support as they look for work, because we expect all Australians of working age who can work to do so. It is not a wage replacement. The payment, though, is not time limited. It doesn't require a contribution and the rate of payment is not based on prior work history, as is the case in many other countries. It's a safety net that's available to all Australians, should they need it. For these reasons, it must be sustainable and it must not distort work-seeking behaviour.

The Morrison government has provided special additional payments for those receiving disability support pensions and for those receiving carer payments. Pension payments, including the disability support pension and carer payments, are long-term payments that are paid at the highest rate in the income support system, because recipients are not generally expected to work to support themselves. The coronavirus supplement is temporary, while pension payments, including DSP and carer payments, will be paid at a higher rate. The additional support that's been provided to disability support pensions and carer payment recipients are further evidence of how the Morrison government is helping to support the disadvantaged during this health crisis.

Eligible pensioners, including DSP and carer allowance recipients, have received two economic payments of $750. The first payment was automatically paid by Services Australia between March and April this year, with the second payment paid to eligible pensioners from 13 July 2020. These payments will help support confidence and domestic demand in the economy, and pension recipients do not need to contact Centrelink to receive these payments. Two additional economic support payments of $250 will be provided to income support recipients, including carer payment and DSP recipients, this month and in March 2021. People receiving a pension payment who were also working may be eligible for the $1,500 per fortnight JobKeeper payment.

Earlier this year, the government announced the commitment of a $90.7 million boost to support Australians with disability who are at risk, amid the coronavirus outbreak, to help them with employment and other support services. Spending includes the Carer Gateway, which is an information service for carers providing practical information and advice to help carers navigate the system of support and services. Services include support planning, targeted financial support packages, counselling, peer support, information and advice and, where necessary, access to emergency and short-term respite. The range of payments provided to workers, jobseekers, business owners, pensioners and the disabled have provided support to millions of Australians during this crisis. Those payments will mean that Australia will be well positioned to make a strong economic recovery.