❓ Mr Murray questions the Minister for Regional Development about the failure to index the Country Age Pension Fuel Card as promised. Minister Grylls announces the cabinet has endorsed the increase in funding and indexing of the card.
AnsweredQoN 493Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COUNTRY AGE PENSION FUEL CARD
493. Mr M.P. MURRAY to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the failure by the minister's government
to index the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, as promised in the 2013 state
election, and the minister's broken promise to increase the value of
the fuel card from $500 to $550 from 1 July this year.
(1) Why has the
minister denied pensioners in the regions the increases to this program that he
promised them for this year?
(2) Will the
minister now correct this broken promise so that pensioners hit hardest by this
government's cost-of-living increases are not further out of pocket?
The SPEAKER : Minister
for Corrective Services, I do not know what is so funny, but I call you to
order for the first time. Did the Minister for Regional Development get that
question?
Mr B.J. Grylls : I
did not hear it; I want him to ask it again.
Mr
M.P. MURRAY : I would love to ask it again! Does the minister want me to
repeat the first words, because I am sure he did not understand it the first
time!
I refer to the failure by the
minister's government to index the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, as
promised in the 2013 state election, and the minister's broken promise
to increase the value of the fuel card from $500 to $550 from 1 July this year.
(1) Why has the
minister denied pensioners in the regions the increases to this program that he
promised them for this year?
(2) Will the
minister now correct this broken promise so that pensioners hit hardest by this
government's cost-of-living increases are not further out of pocket?
493. Mr M.P. MURRAY to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the failure by the minister's government
to index the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, as promised in the 2013 state
election, and the minister's broken promise to increase the value of
the fuel card from $500 to $550 from 1 July this year.
(1) Why has the
minister denied pensioners in the regions the increases to this program that he
promised them for this year?
(2) Will the
minister now correct this broken promise so that pensioners hit hardest by this
government's cost-of-living increases are not further out of pocket?
The SPEAKER : Minister
for Corrective Services, I do not know what is so funny, but I call you to
order for the first time. Did the Minister for Regional Development get that
question?
Mr B.J. Grylls : I
did not hear it; I want him to ask it again.
Mr
M.P. MURRAY : I would love to ask it again! Does the minister want me to
repeat the first words, because I am sure he did not understand it the first
time!
I refer to the failure by the
minister's government to index the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, as
promised in the 2013 state election, and the minister's broken promise
to increase the value of the fuel card from $500 to $550 from 1 July this year.
(1) Why has the
minister denied pensioners in the regions the increases to this program that he
promised them for this year?
(2) Will the
minister now correct this broken promise so that pensioners hit hardest by this
government's cost-of-living increases are not further out of pocket?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
answer is yes. It gives me great pleasure to announce that on Monday the
cabinet endorsed the increase in funding to the fuel card in regional Western
Australia. We were just preparing the media statement to make that known, but
it gives me the opportunity to speak about it in Parliament.
Several members interjected.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : This was a commitment of both the Liberal Party and the
National Party in the election. It is a very, very important commitment to
regional Western Australians who love and cherish the Country Age Pension Fuel
Card; it is also made available to disability pensioners and carers. It is a
really important way of allowing them to stay mobile in regional areas. There
are now around 46 000 recipients of the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, and we
believe that will grow to more than 50 000 by the end of the budget forward
estimates period. From 1 July next year the card will have a value of $550; for
subsequent years it will be indexed each year. This is an outstanding outcome
for pensioners in regional Western Australia, and I thank the member for Collie–Preston
for his outstanding question today.
answer is yes. It gives me great pleasure to announce that on Monday the
cabinet endorsed the increase in funding to the fuel card in regional Western
Australia. We were just preparing the media statement to make that known, but
it gives me the opportunity to speak about it in Parliament.
Several members interjected.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : This was a commitment of both the Liberal Party and the
National Party in the election. It is a very, very important commitment to
regional Western Australians who love and cherish the Country Age Pension Fuel
Card; it is also made available to disability pensioners and carers. It is a
really important way of allowing them to stay mobile in regional areas. There
are now around 46 000 recipients of the Country Age Pension Fuel Card, and we
believe that will grow to more than 50 000 by the end of the budget forward
estimates period. From 1 July next year the card will have a value of $550; for
subsequent years it will be indexed each year. This is an outstanding outcome
for pensioners in regional Western Australia, and I thank the member for Collie–Preston
for his outstanding question today.
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