❓ Opposition Leader McGowan questions the Minister for Seniors and Volunteering about potential further cuts to senior rebates. The Minister responds by highlighting existing concessions and raising the question of defining 'senior' and reviewing eligibility for the WA Seniors Card.
AnsweredQoN 494Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SAFETY AND SECURITY REBATE SCHEME —
REQUIREMENTS
494. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Seniors and Volunteering:
I have a supplementary question. Now
that the minister has gutted the cost of living rebate and the senior security
rebate, how many more cruel attacks on seniors will he make?
REQUIREMENTS
494. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Minister for
Seniors and Volunteering:
I have a supplementary question. Now
that the minister has gutted the cost of living rebate and the senior security
rebate, how many more cruel attacks on seniors will he make?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question.
I will restate what we said yesterday. The 16 concessions on the WA Seniors
Card remain and the $405 million of state government money is in the system for
concessions. We are fully supportive of seniors in our community. The important
part of the process is a question that I will ask members of the house: how do
we identify what is a senior? Today at a meeting I asked what a senior is in
our community. As I have stated in this house on many occasions, to access a WA
Seniors Card, people need to show a birth certificate stating that they are at
least 60 years of age and work less than 25 hours a week annually. If they meet
those requirements, they can avail themselves of the raft of concessions. The
question we need to ask is, ''What is a senior?'' so that we can
support seniors in our community.
Dr
A.D. Buti : You're the minister for seniors!
The
SPEAKER : Order, members! Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the
first time.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : I restate —
Mr
M. McGowan : What is a senior?
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : That is a very good question. One of the groups I met with
last week identified that 60 years of age is too low and said that we should
look at raising the age at which people become eligible. That is what we spoke
about yesterday when we said there would be a review of the WA Seniors Card; we
want to make sure that the people who deserve the money, get the money.
Eligibility is one area we have to look at as a government to make sure that
the Seniors Card is targeted at the right people.
I will restate what we said yesterday. The 16 concessions on the WA Seniors
Card remain and the $405 million of state government money is in the system for
concessions. We are fully supportive of seniors in our community. The important
part of the process is a question that I will ask members of the house: how do
we identify what is a senior? Today at a meeting I asked what a senior is in
our community. As I have stated in this house on many occasions, to access a WA
Seniors Card, people need to show a birth certificate stating that they are at
least 60 years of age and work less than 25 hours a week annually. If they meet
those requirements, they can avail themselves of the raft of concessions. The
question we need to ask is, ''What is a senior?'' so that we can
support seniors in our community.
Dr
A.D. Buti : You're the minister for seniors!
The
SPEAKER : Order, members! Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the
first time.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : I restate —
Mr
M. McGowan : What is a senior?
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : That is a very good question. One of the groups I met with
last week identified that 60 years of age is too low and said that we should
look at raising the age at which people become eligible. That is what we spoke
about yesterday when we said there would be a review of the WA Seniors Card; we
want to make sure that the people who deserve the money, get the money.
Eligibility is one area we have to look at as a government to make sure that
the Seniors Card is targeted at the right people.
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