Page 3078 - Week 09 - Thursday, 13 October 2022
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(n) the Low-Income Home Energy Program, supporting vulnerable and low income households to improve the thermal comfort of their property and reduce energy costs;
(4) further notes that the Commonwealth Government is implementing a range of important cost-of-living policies and indexation measures to support individuals and families including:
(a) an increase to the Child Care Subsidy since 11 July 2022;
(b) for the first time in its 75-year history, a fall in the maximum cost of general scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from 1 January 2023; and
(c) the largest indexation increase to the pension in 12 years, and the largest indexation increase to welfare payments in more than three decades, from 20 September 2022; and
(5) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue investing in measures to support low-income Canberra households to reduce their cost of living; and
(b) contribute to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry into the extent and nature of poverty in Australia.”.
As Ms Lee has indicated, next week is National Anti-Poverty Week. Poverty is an issue across Australia, and it requires a collaborative approach across commonwealth, state and territory governments. The major drivers of poverty are low income levels and lack of employment opportunities. As Ms Lee indicated, overall, Canberrans enjoy a high standard of living—the recent census data has once again confirmed that—with access to free quality healthcare and education, and, indeed, well planned and delivered infrastructure. As Ms Lee indicated in her remarks, unemployment in the ACT is currently very low. A low level of unemployment means a higher level of employment, which contributes in a positive way to the reduction of poverty.
My amendment outlines in some detail the range of initiatives the ACT government is pursuing, but I note that this issue has, in fact, become the subject of a national inquiry in the Senate. It was a Greens and Labor initiative in the federal Senate—one that was opposed by the Liberal party in the Senate. Hansard reflects their opposition to the nature and terms of reference of the inquiry. I had a look at the terms of reference of the Senate inquiry, and noted that Ms Lee has, in fact, cut and pasted the entire thing, in all of its federal context, into her motion. So there is no originality in the contents of Ms Lee’s—
Ms Lee: No originality?
MR BARR: No; no originality. It is a direct lift from the Senate’s terms of reference. In light of that, we have an inquiry into these matters at a national level. These issues are national, and the terms of reference that Ms Lee has cut and pasted reflect the national issues—fiscal policy, rising inflation, cost-of-living pressures, employment outcomes and the like, all of which are relevant across the nation.
So, my amendment highlights the work that the ACT government has undertaken and commits the government to continue to invest in measures that support low-income
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