Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'll begin by foreshadowing that the Greens will be supporting the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Lifting the Income Limit for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card) Bill 2022. We're supporting it because we believe that Australia needs a more generous income support system across the board.

I do note, however, that some submissions to the Senate inquiry raised concerns about the government's approach. ACOSS said that it was 'not well targeted' and that expanding the income test will not help those who are most in need. There were submissions, of course, that supported it. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said:

The ANMF supports the proposed changes to the Bill, particularly with regard to the positive health impacts it would have where the increased income test limits will allow more individuals access to relevant pharmaceutical and medical benefits, and lower GP co‐payments where applicable.

The Council of the Ageing were also supportive, saying:

COTA Australia supports the proposed lifting of the income limit for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card …

The Greens will support it as well. Clearly, enabling people who are of age pension age and aren't receiving other social security payments to receive some extra benefits is something that will be very much appreciated and of much value to people while the cost of living continues to increase. It's something that, given the struggles for people to survive and the increasing costs of living across the board, is of value.

But we continue to have a central concern that, while Labor—and, indeed, the Liberal Party, including with the amendments that Senator Smith has foreshadowed—have introduced policy proposals and bills in relation to age pensioners, there have not been enough proposals put forward to address the giant gaps in our social security system across the board for everyone who is trying to survive on income support. This bill recognises that older people with incomes of up to $90,000, in fact, need extra support through having access to a healthcare card, which will enable them to have access to the extended Medicare safety net and cheaper medicines under the PBS. It recognises that, even if you have an income of up to $90,000, you are not living in luxury and that having access to those extra benefits will help you deal with the increasing cost of living.

But that's for people with incomes of up to $90,000. How about thinking about other people in our community who are surviving on incomes way, way less than that—people surviving on JobSeeker, on youth allowance, on student allowance or on parenting allowance? The rate of JobSeeker is $47 a day, which adds up to an annual income of $17,155. The poverty line in Australia, the Henderson poverty line, has been re-established today. The Melbourne Institute have put out their three-month update of what the Henderson poverty line is. It's $88 a day, or $32,000 a year. That is what the Melbourne Institute, what the Henderson poverty line, says people in Australia need to not live in poverty. Here we are with this bill, recognising that people on incomes of up to $90,000 need extra support, yet we have got people absolutely languishing in poverty, not able to afford medicines, not able to put food on the table, not able to afford their rent—and not only people at risk but people who are homeless who are trying to survive on income support because they've been turfed out of their houses by increasing rent. We've got people who are struggling, who are ill because they can't afford medicines to treat their illnesses. We've got people who have undiagnosed illnesses because they can't afford the gap payments to see specialists to have diagnostic tests done.

I had a story shared with me recently of a student who was living on student allowance, who, despite surviving with dumpster diving and second-hand clothes and walking to his courses rather than catching public transport he couldn't afford, fell ill and could not afford to get the diagnostic tests done to determine what his illness was. He struggled and suffered, and took much longer to finish his studies because he was ill, because he had an undiagnosed illness. Then we had the wonderful experiment during the COVID crisis where we doubled the rate of income support and doubled the JobSeeker allowance, and suddenly people who had been struggling in poverty found they could afford to feed themselves. They could afford to use public transport. They could afford to go and get tests done. This student then got the test done, had their illness diagnosed, had surgery and got well. And now they are working and paying taxes.

This is what we need to be doing. We need to be supporting everybody in our community who is currently living on income support to live a decent life. We need a guaranteed liveable income for all. It's not just good for the individuals; it is good for our whole community. We need an overarching, complete, structured reassessment of our income support system, and we need to have everybody living above the poverty line.

So, yes, we will support this bill because it's going to make life easier for people who are struggling with the cost of living. We acknowledge that; that's why we're supporting it. But there are so many people who aren't going to have their poverty addressed by this bill. We have an appalling gap in the rate of payments between what people are struggling on and what they need to survive. People are being forced to rely on income support payments that are way below the poverty line. We will support this bill. It's a good step forward. We need to be increasing our rate of support payments but we need to be doing more. We call upon this government, and we will keep calling upon this government, to raise the rate of income support across the board.