❓ Mr. Blayney asks the Minister for Seniors and Volunteering about the impact of Commonwealth funding withdrawal on seniors' concessions. The Minister acknowledges cuts are coming but aims to protect vulnerable pensioners and is reviewing the WA Seniors Card program to find savings.
AnsweredQoN 435Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SENIORS —
CONCESSION FUNDING
435. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the
Minister for Seniors and Volunteering:
I understand the minister met with half a dozen seniors
groups this morning to discuss the withdrawal of commonwealth funding for
seniors' concessions and rebates. Can the minister please update the
house on how the meeting went?
CONCESSION FUNDING
435. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the
Minister for Seniors and Volunteering:
I understand the minister met with half a dozen seniors
groups this morning to discuss the withdrawal of commonwealth funding for
seniors' concessions and rebates. Can the minister please update the
house on how the meeting went?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker, I thank —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah, thank you for your analogy!
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
thank the member for the question to update the house on the national
partnership agreement being torn up by the federal government. As the Premier
pointed out earlier in question time today, this relates to $430 million worth
of concessions to WA seniors and a raft of other areas as well. Even though I am
the minister for seniors and give out a raft of concessions, so does the
Minister for Energy under his portfolio, and the royalties for regions fund
provides a concession through the fuel card. A raft of other measures across
different portfolios help seniors in our community live and stay well.
One of the main things concerning me
as the Minister for Seniors and Volunteering and losing $25 million out of this
budget process is that commonwealth money goes towards the commonwealth pension
card and the Health Care Card. People on the age pension are the most
vulnerable in our community. As the minister for seniors, I will ensure that
any cut made will be quarantined. We will ensure that we protect vulnerable
people in our community. That was the idea today—to have a meeting with
that sector. I met with representatives from the Council on the Ageing Western
Australia, National Seniors and the Association of Independent Retirees. I also
brought the Western Australian Council of Social Service to the table to try to
work out the raft of discounts and concessions we give and the amount of money
we have to find savings in other areas that actually work.
The interesting part to come out of
the conversation was the opportunity to review the WA Seniors Card, which is
something we will start to look at in the next couple of months for the next
couple of years. One thing is clear: the only criteria to obtain a WA Seniors
Card is a birth certificate to show that a person is over 60 years of age and a
signed statutory declaration saying that they work fewer than 25 hours a week,
annualised.
I will table the graph I am holding
up. It is a graph of all the states in Australia. It shows what each gives out
as part of seniors' discounts. The far column has a lot of blue. More
importantly, Victoria in particular has only three discounts, and New South
Wales has six. There is a limited number of concessions received from the state
government.
To clarify a couple of points: the
Premier wrote to the Prime Minister over this national partnership agreement. I
wrote to the minister for ageing on the same issue regarding cuts to funding.
We realise there are savings but as the Minister for seniors I want to make
sure we can protect those who are less vulnerable in our community, especially
age pensioners —
Ms
M.M. Quirk : So you cannot guarantee there will not be cuts.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : No—there will be cuts, member. That is the point I am
making. There will be some sort of cuts but we are looking at it, hence why I
had the meeting today. We will have another meeting next week to try to find
the best savings. More importantly, we need to protect pensioners in our
community to make sure they are not impacted by this cut. We will look at the
WA Seniors Card, the raft of discounts we offer, to make sure we can help
seniors in our community.
[See paper 1730.]
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah, thank you for your analogy!
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
thank the member for the question to update the house on the national
partnership agreement being torn up by the federal government. As the Premier
pointed out earlier in question time today, this relates to $430 million worth
of concessions to WA seniors and a raft of other areas as well. Even though I am
the minister for seniors and give out a raft of concessions, so does the
Minister for Energy under his portfolio, and the royalties for regions fund
provides a concession through the fuel card. A raft of other measures across
different portfolios help seniors in our community live and stay well.
One of the main things concerning me
as the Minister for Seniors and Volunteering and losing $25 million out of this
budget process is that commonwealth money goes towards the commonwealth pension
card and the Health Care Card. People on the age pension are the most
vulnerable in our community. As the minister for seniors, I will ensure that
any cut made will be quarantined. We will ensure that we protect vulnerable
people in our community. That was the idea today—to have a meeting with
that sector. I met with representatives from the Council on the Ageing Western
Australia, National Seniors and the Association of Independent Retirees. I also
brought the Western Australian Council of Social Service to the table to try to
work out the raft of discounts and concessions we give and the amount of money
we have to find savings in other areas that actually work.
The interesting part to come out of
the conversation was the opportunity to review the WA Seniors Card, which is
something we will start to look at in the next couple of months for the next
couple of years. One thing is clear: the only criteria to obtain a WA Seniors
Card is a birth certificate to show that a person is over 60 years of age and a
signed statutory declaration saying that they work fewer than 25 hours a week,
annualised.
I will table the graph I am holding
up. It is a graph of all the states in Australia. It shows what each gives out
as part of seniors' discounts. The far column has a lot of blue. More
importantly, Victoria in particular has only three discounts, and New South
Wales has six. There is a limited number of concessions received from the state
government.
To clarify a couple of points: the
Premier wrote to the Prime Minister over this national partnership agreement. I
wrote to the minister for ageing on the same issue regarding cuts to funding.
We realise there are savings but as the Minister for seniors I want to make
sure we can protect those who are less vulnerable in our community, especially
age pensioners —
Ms
M.M. Quirk : So you cannot guarantee there will not be cuts.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : No—there will be cuts, member. That is the point I am
making. There will be some sort of cuts but we are looking at it, hence why I
had the meeting today. We will have another meeting next week to try to find
the best savings. More importantly, we need to protect pensioners in our
community to make sure they are not impacted by this cut. We will look at the
WA Seniors Card, the raft of discounts we offer, to make sure we can help
seniors in our community.
[See paper 1730.]
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