Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of answers given to all questions asked by coalition senators.

I'm going to do just two things in the brief opportunity I have this afternoon. In all seriousness, the first is to remind the government about their commitment and their policy that was aimed at improving, sustaining, refreshing and energising Australia's charity sector. The second thing I'm going to do—and I'm embarrassed to have to do it—is to highlight the very, very real concerns and the evidence that is now appearing which demonstrates that Australia's charity and not-for-profit sector, which has done good work that many Australians regularly rely upon, is feeling the strain. It's feeling the strain of a number of things. It is feeling the strain of the current cost-of-living pressures, which are made worse for it because many charities are still feeling the fatigue and the exhaustion of having responded to a series of natural disasters in our country. They stepped up in their local communities during the pandemic and now are facing very, very real, serious and immediate challenges.

I hope that after today's brief remarks this issue gets to the top of Senator Gallagher's priorities. I hope it gets to the top of the government's priorities, because you can't be interested in providing cost-of-living relief if you're not also interested in supporting Australia's charity and not-for-profit sector.

Labor committed, in its 'Building capacity, Building Community' policy, to do just three things, and we heard from Senator Gallagher this afternoon that not one has been delivered. The first was the appointment of an expert reference panel. How difficult can that be? How long should that take? The second was to create a blueprint mapping out how Australian charities could reach their potential—how urgent has that now become? Thirdly, they said they would provide coaching to the charity and community sector to fulfil its important and very, very urgent and needy role as frontline responders. And Labor said in the budget that it would do one more thing, and that was to initiate a Productivity Commission inquiry into philanthropic giving. How difficult can that be? And how urgent it has become. It's disappointing that, over the last few days and last week, much of the commentary in our newspapers has been about cost-of-living pressures and about the number of fixed mortgage rates shifting across to variable rates. There are 800,000 fixed rate loans shifting across to variable rates in this year alone, but we heard from the responsible minister that it's not yet reached the list of the government's priorities.

Let me just share what the sector is saying. In December last year, the sector released a report. It said in the key findings—you don't have to look very hard; they're on page 7—that three per cent of participants said their main service could always meet demand. That means 97 per cent of services do not feel like they can meet demand. Sixty-three per cent of survey participants—and this is surveys of charity providers—reported that cost-of-living pressures affected the people or communities their service supports. This was the most frequently reported challenge. Fifty-seven per cent of participants said access to affordable housing or homelessness affected their service users and communities. This was much higher amongst providers focused on domestic and family violence, which was 94 per cent, and financial, legal and emergency supports, which was 90 per cent.

In the last budget, just in October, the government applauded itself for delivering on its election commitments. Today is the third sitting day of the new parliamentary year, and they still have not been able to deliver on what has now become a most critical, a most urgent, election commitment and election promise. The matter is serious, and I hope we get some responses soon.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to contribute to this debate in addressing an answer given by Minister Gallagher around what is the government's major priority. The No. 1 thing that we are focused on as a government is the economy and responding to the challenges that we are facing right now.

We are acutely aware, as a government, of the very difficult nature of interest rate rises and the impact that this is having on households and families and small businesses. It is our No. 1 focus, and that is why we are delivering cost-of-living relief for Australian families. I know that those opposite would like to ignore some of these steps—and even, at times, vote against them—but it is clear that we are delivering. We are responding to a very challenging economic situation in a manner that is affordable and responsible but delivers that relief for families.

We have delivered cheaper medicines for Australians. We are delivering cheaper child care. We passed the legislation last year, and it will come into force very soon for Australian families. To ignore this as an economic measure just shows that those opposite have not learnt how important child care and economic participation from women really is to our economy.

We're delivering energy relief. We came back to parliament, and it was a priority, an urgency for our government. That is why we ensured—extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures—that we passed that bill despite the fact that those opposite voted against it. They voted against cost-of-living relief for families and for small businesses for no other reason other than they are ideologically opposed to any—any!—action when it comes to delivering cost-of-living relief. That can be the only explanation as to why they voted against cost-of-living relief on energy bills for Australian families.

We're getting on with the job of delivering these important measures, and we're doing it in a responsible way that seeks to make sure that we don't create any further inflation. We are making sure that we are spending responsibly, and we are tackling our supply chain issues. But it's funny to me that those opposite seem to think, or want to believe, that they left this brand new house for the new government to walk into—with no curtains, no furnishing, nothing. It was supposedly untouched and nothing had happened. This is what we inherited: a house that had had an 18-year-old birthday party in it for two nights. Everything was broken, the budget was in a complete and utter mess and we inherited a trillion dollars in debt. You want to forget about this, but that is the situation that you've left us in.

You had funds for the National Party with colour coded spreadsheets and irresponsible spending, terminating measures of incredibly important programs that just have no funding in the future, and there was absolutely no energy plan. After 22 tries, they couldn't land a single energy policy, and yet they want to come here and vote against energy price relief. They left us with skills shortages across the country, which are impacting our economy. We know that, but we're getting on with the job of dealing with those skills shortages with fee-free TAFE. On top of this absolute mess that we inherited, we have a trillion in debt that those opposite want to completely ignore and pretend does not exist.

We are delivering responsible and affordable budget measures and we're doing it in a way that makes sure that every single Australian family knows that our No. 1 priority is dealing with the economic challenges that we're facing, responding to these cost-of-living pressures and doing it in a way that does not create worse inflation or contribute to the issues. That is what we are—

Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Reynolds.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Listening to those opposite, you'd think that all is absolutely fabulous out and about across Australia. Let me tell you as a senator for Western Australia—come out to any supermarket or anywhere Australians are spending money. In Western Australia, retail sales were down 30 per cent last month because the cost of living is biting, and it is biting hard. I'll challenge any one of you over there to come with Senator O'Sullivan and me out into the suburbs of Perth and out into rural and regional Australia, and you just trot out that rubbish about how great life is under you. It demonstrably is complete and utter lies.

If you think that people aren't feeling the cost-of-living pressure through your inflationary measures, like increased interest rates, then come and speak to real Australians, because let me tell you what they're telling us. They are saying that they are struggling to pay for their groceries. They are having to make incredibly difficult choices each and every day about how they feed their families. They are struggling to pay their power bills, because you promised you would reduce them by $275, and instead they have gone up, and up and up. It's not only individuals and their families; it is businesses, large and small, who are struggling with all of these inflationary pressures that you've put on our economy.

They are struggling to pay for their mortgages. As we have heard, 800,000 Australians and many tens of thousands of Western Australians are about to come off fixed interest rate mortgages, and they will be struggling even further. You are doing nothing but putting further pressure on interest rates and inflation. Western Australians are not only struggling to build a house or to afford a mortgage; they are also struggling to pay their rent, with the increased unavailability of houses to rent. They are not taking holidays, and they are working significant overtime. In fact, 12 per cent of Western Australians who are renting are looking to downsize their rental property. Of course, they can't find any, because the McGowan government has been completely derelict in providing greater housing stock and rental stocks in Western Australia.

The Albanese Labor government is demonstrably putting pressure on the costs of living of all Western Australians. Please take up our offer; we will take you—won't we, Senator O'Sullivan?—to any shopping centre in Western Australia. You should talk to real Australians and tell them what tripe you've just put out here in this Senate. It is complete and utter rubbish. Of course, Western Australians, who deserve far better from this current government in terms of helping them with their costs of living, are also subject to the complete dereliction of the McGowan Labor government. So in Western Australia we have a double whammy. Again, if you're concerned about health care, come and talk to Western Australians about the tragedies that impact on every family now in Australia.

They're not only struggling with their health care and their cost of living; our hospitals in Western Australia, despite record funding from us when we were in government, are at breaking point. We now have thousands and thousands of sick and injured Western Australians who have to sit for hours and hours outside the emergency room not because the state government doesn't have enough money. It's because it cannot manage its doctors and nurses and make beds available. Western Australians deserve so much better.

For example, the WA state Labor government promised a lot on infrastructure—they've had record surpluses—and yet they are not spending the money on health care. They've spent six years delivering supposedly better rail, the METRONET, and guess what? After six years and about three times the budget blowout, there is not a single train on any of those tracks yet, and people in outer suburbs who are already feeling the cost-of-living pressure are still having to pay exorbitant amounts and spend time transporting themselves to their places of work.

Again, I have to note, in terms of Western Australia and Western Australians deserving better, that our premier there is so out of touch. He made comments today on Carnarvon, saying he went there recently. But he actually was there for a fly-in fly-out 18 months ago to do a publicity stunt, and he hasn't been up there since to have a look at the devastation of alcohol and many of the other social issues that are plaguing Carnarvon. Western Australians deserve better from both state— (Time expired)

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Anyone listening to this at home would be wondering when the last chance was that those opposite had in government. It wasn't that long ago. They spent the better part of the last decade in government—a low-ambition government with short memories. None of this stuff started on 19 May in 2022. The issues they're referring to around cost of living started well before that. The inflationary pressures started well before that. Many of the challenges in our economy started well before that, and they started under their watch.

So they have short memories, for sure, and also not good listening skills, because I just sat here through Senator Green's contribution, where she very delicately acknowledged the great difficulties facing Australians at the moment when it comes to cost of living. These issues are biting. They're really stinging, I know they're stinging in South Australia. They're stinging in the costs of rents, which are soaring in many parts of Adelaide and around our state. Supply issues in the housing market are causing these challenges, something we're seeking to address through our housing policies in government and something which has been neglected for the better part of a decade. And, yes, interest rates are creating significant challenges for Australians with mortgages. These pressures are real, and they're hurting people in my state. That's why our government is acting.

But let's not pretend you can act in this way without some degree of delicacy. You need to be careful, you need to be responsible and you need to show restraint in the budget. That's exactly what our Treasurer and our government have done. We have been working to deliver cost-of-living relief for Australians in a way which won't add further pressure to inflation, through things like our policy to lower the cost of medicines, a significant reform which will make a real difference to many, many Australians and some of our most vulnerable Australians who are reliant on regular medicines. This will make a very significant difference.

For people of my generation, the costs of child care are absolutely enormous. They eat into a huge part of a family's budget each week. They are a necessary expense to participate in the economy and to maintain your connection with the workforce—and, of course, to give children access to that amazing and incredible thing that we call play based learning, which sets them up for a great start in life. But these costs are significant, which is why we've introduced a significant package to lower the cost of child care and increase access to early learning.

And, we have responsibly supported wage growth. We've supported an increase to the minimum wage, a significant measure which makes a big difference in the lives of Australians, our lowest paid Australians, with cost-of-living pressures. But we are doing these things responsibly. We are doing them in the context of restraint.

Alongside these measures, we are addressing challenges on the supply side—challenges like the skills gaps in our economy. These are skills challenges which sat ignored and untouched by the previous government for the better part of a decade. We are doing this through measures like our fee-free TAFE positions. We are investing in cleaner and cheaper energy, after almost a decade of failed energy policy after failed energy policy—that failure to give the market and businesses the investment guidelines they needed to stimulate that part of our economy and grow jobs. We've made those decisions. We've legislated those targets to provide that certainty and to provide that growth.

Of course, we didn't come to government to a perfect economy. We came to government and inherited a trillion dollars of their debt—a trillion dollars of debt with very little economic dividend to show for it. We came to government with a time of falling real wages. We came to government at a time of increasing energy prices and insecurity and instability in the energy market, because of their failure to legislate and because of their failure to choose a policy and stick to it. We came to government at a time of significant skills shortages. All of these are things that we are working on.

We understand that cost of living is biting at the moment. It's biting people in my state. It's biting people in Adelaide. That's why we are working to address it. I'm sure, and I have great confidence, that our May budget will take even further measures to help support Australians with these cost-of-living pressures. Let's lose the dodgy listening skills and stretch back a bit further in your memory, because we are doing— (Time expired)

Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition is committed to supporting the health, safety and wellbeing of older Australians, and we hope the Albanese government continues our generational reform of the aged-care system for the benefit of all residents.

The opposition called on the Labor government to prioritise keeping vulnerable older Australians safe, something they failed to do in 2022 and, unfortunately, it looks like they have failed again. The minister earlier today couldn't tell us how many Australians have died from COVID in residential aged care since the 2022 election—couldn't answer that question. This government has neglected older Australians through devastating COVID outbreaks at the end of last year. Shamefully, the minister characterised her response to this situation as a 'watching brief'. How long are you going to watch? Act! This last wave of the COVID-19 virus has seen more aged-care residents die of COVID in the first eight months of the Albanese government than in the whole 2½ years dealing with the pandemic. It flies in the face of transparency that, in the exact same week that marked this serious milestone, the data reporting changed. The minister said she would put the care back into aged care, but, instead, she has ripped out the measures put in place to protect older Australians through the pandemic and has now changed the reporting system, which raises further serious questions.

Sensible measures like supplying PPE and RATs to residential aged care are important, but the tragic statistics show that is not enough. The government also ended the most effective vaccine program, Operation COVID Shield, despite health advice that vaccination is the most effective defence against new waves of the pandemic. All Australians want and expect our older Australians to be well supported and cared for in our community, including in residential aged-care homes. That is why in government the coalition called the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, to ensure our oldest and most vulnerable Australians receive care that supports and respects their dignity and recognises the important contribution they have made to society. The final report of the royal commission makes 148 recommendations. Following 23 public hearings over 99 days, 641 witnesses and over 10,000 public submissions, they are the product of wise and compassionate scrutiny of Australia's aged-care system.

In response to the royal commission, the coalition committed $19.1 billion to a five-year plan to improve aged care with new home-care packages, respite services, training places, retention bonuses and infrastructure upgrades. The opposition remains committed to supporting the health, safety and wellbeing of older Australians and understands the important role that aged-care providers, care workers and nurses play in ensuring this support is provided in residential aged-care settings. I acknowledge the work that they have done and that they continue to do.

During the election campaign Labor said they would 'put the care back into aged care'. Instead they have delayed the delivery of the Fair Work Commission's 15 per cent pay rise for Australia's hardworking and dedicated aged-care staff. This is another shocking broken promise from the Labor government. After repeatedly committing to fully fund the outcome of the pay rise case, the Labor government have now announced that they will only deliver a 10 per cent rise next year for the sector, with the remaining five per cent delayed an entire year.

This government has neglected older Australians through devastating COVID outbreaks. At the end of last year, shamefully, the minister characterised her response, again, as a 'watching brief'. The minister did say she would put the 'care back into aged care'. We look forward to seeing evidence of that and the data that supports that.

Question agreed to.