Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Chair; that's very good advice. I should ignore most things the opposition says.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: Senator Farrell, come to the point.

Thank you for that reminder, Chair. The former government spent nine years doing nothing to boost workforce participation. It was the last Labor government that introduced the Work Bonus, in 2009. Only in the last month or so has the opposition taken steps to encourage pensioner workforce participation, through Senator Dean Smith's private senators' bill. However, Senator Smith's bill is just a doubling of the existing Work Bonus and doesn't provide pensioners with the flexibility that the government bill offers.

The government has announced that from 1 December 2022 until 30 June 2023, pensioners of the age pension age will benefit from a $4,000 increase in the maximum Work Bonus income bank balance, and that results in an increase from $7,800 to $11,800. This increase will be credited to eligible pensioners' income banks upfront so they will be able to earn an additional $4,000 from employment income this financial year without losing any of their pension. This provides an immediate benefit to any pensioner over age pension age who works, and will help address labour shortages.