Transcript of
Senator Mitch Fifield
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary
for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector
Sky News AM Agenda
Kieran Gilbert and Mark Arbib
27 April 2009
8:30am
EO & E
Subjects: MPs electoral allowance, pension increase, mortgage reprieves
KIERAN GILBERT:
Good morning and welcome to AM Agenda. The government announced at the weekend it’s signed a new $32 billion infrastructure deal with the States and Territories. The Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese enjoyed himself announcing a much smaller scale project in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE:
If you are prepared to be bold enough to front up to the launch of a project which you voted against then good luck to you.
OPPOSITION LEADER MALCOLM TURNBULL:
Albo’s, Albo, he’s always got something nasty to say. I’m here to say, this is good work Albo, good on you for putting the money into the pavilion for the cricket club, we welcome it. And if the government spent more money on infrastructure and less on handouts our economy would be in much better shape.
GILBERT:
We’re going to be joined by the Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese in a moment on AM Agenda. First though we are going to go to our panel, Labor Senator and Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery, Senator Mark Arbib in Sydney. Senator Arbib thanks for your time.
MARK ARBIB:
Morning Kieran.
GILBERT:
And in Melbourne we are going to be joined shortly by the Liberal Senator, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector, Mitch Fifield. But first of all, Mark Arbib, I want to ask you about a couple of the matters of the day. First and foremost MPs are going to get a pay-rise, $4,700 to their electoral allowance per year. Now that’s about $90 a week, well above what’s been speculated in terms of any potential increase in terms of the age pension in the budget. Is this the right time for politicians to be getting a pay-rise?
ARBIB:
Well it is not actually a pay increase, this is in terms of our electoral allowance and this is money that is spent by members of parliament in their electorates. And most of the MPs I speak to actually spend this money going to charity events, going to functions, going to school events. I mean this is money you spend when you go to the local school and you buy a raffle tickets, when you attend fetes. So it is not a pay rise for MPs as such this is money that will be spent in electorates therefore I think there is a reason why there has been an increase. The other thing is that it is a decision of the independent tribunal, remuneration tribunal, so this isn’t something that the government has decided this is something that an independent remuneration tribunal has decided. So therefore there are reasons.
GILBERT:
Do you think that the, this timing, given where we are in the global recession, the impact it’s having in Australia, the debate about pension increase, and in fact about the new start allowance for that, longer, longer unemployment queue. Do you think that this will go down well? Obviously politicians pay is always something that gets beaten up and so-on, but is the timing the best for the government on this front?
ARBIB:
I was just going to say, it is never popular for politicians to get any increase to their allowances or any pay rises. It is never popular. So therefore I think we know how this will play out in the electorate. But at the same time as that, it has been put forward by an independent tribunal. It will be used in electorates by MPs to do their jobs. And most of it will be going back into the community.
GILBERT:
Mitch Fifield in Melbourne, what’s your point of view on this, on the increase for the electoral allowance?
MITCH FIFIELD:
Well I am going to agree with Mark. The electorate allowance is, as he said, something which is designed to assist Members and Senators to service their electorates. And most of my colleagues on both sides of the chamber spend it for just that purpose, to service their electorate. And then, as Mark said, it’s the independent remuneration tribunal which establishes the electorate allowance and any changes to it, as it does with pay of members of parliament. And I think it is very important that members of parliament stay well away from issues of their pay and their entitlements. It is something that should be determined by the independent tribunal and we should all stay as far away from these issues as we can.
GILBERT:
As Senator Arbib said it is always controversial whenever there is any increase to entitlements. Do you get frustrated sometimes as a Senator of the nation’s parliament that this is something that always generates headlines Senator Fifield?
FIFIELD:
Well there is no point being frustrated about it. We’re here to do a job, we get well-paid for the job that we do and the public is perfectly entitled to have their view as to whether they think we are paid too little or too much. The important thing for us is to just get on with our job and just do it.
GILBERT:
Senator Arbib in the context of the pension increase, which is going to be forthcoming in the budget, the pension groups, the seniors groups are asking for $30 a week. Given that this electoral allowance increase is, I think, translates to something like $90 a week, you wouldn’t be surprised if the seniors groups do use this as an argument for their case for a fairly substantial increase on the 12th of May.
ARBIB:
Oh, I don’t think there is any doubt about that, they will. And the government and Wayne Swan, the Treasurer, said yesterday that we will undertake pension reform in this budget. The levels are something that we are not going to speculate on, but certainly it is something that we promised, we set in place a review, and now we are going to deliver on in the upcoming budgets. So we will just have to wait and see what the figures are. I’m sure, some of the seniors groups will be using it, and that is their right to do. But in the end, the government will deliver on pensioners. (check)
GILBERT:
Mitch Fifield, $30 a week, is that the sort of ball-park that needs to be implemented or should it be more than that?
FIFIELD:
Well that is what we have been arguing for, that the single age pension rate should be increased to two-thirds the rate of couples. Because there are certain costs which are the same, regardless of whether you are a couple or a single. So the single age pension should reflect that. It’s important to bear in mind, Kieran, that the only reason there will be any increase in the age pension in the coming budget is because the Opposition put it on the agenda…
GILBERT:
And because the Howard Government didn’t do it a couple of years ago as well.
FIFIELD:
Well we did a lot for pensioners, we did a lot for self-funded retirees as well. We put it on the agenda and in response to that the Government committed to having a review, the Harmer review, of pensions, which they have now had for a couple of weeks. We look forward to the budget and hope that the Government does do what they undertook to do, which is to increase the single rate of the age pension by the order of, by $30 a week to two-thirds the couples rate.
ARBIB:
I can’t believe you are now saying that. You had 12 years to do something about pensions, and you ignored it, you put it in the too hard basket, now you are claiming credit for an increase coming forward in the next budget. I mean this is the duplicity of the Liberal Party, on one hand you say it was too hard, now you take credit for it. Same thing going back to the stimulus package. Right now you listen to Malcolm Turnbull, Andrew Robb, Mitch Fifield they all called the stimulus payments ‘cash splash’ just a cash splash. I mean let’s not forget that the first stimulus payment was actually to pensioners. We gave $1400 to single pensioners, $2100 to couples. That was the first stimulus payment. And the Coalition agreed to it then, but now it is a cash splash. So in terms of…
GILBERT:
But the Coalition did, Senator Arbib, the Coalition did implement on a number of occasions during the Howard years those sorts of payments to pensioners, utilities increases and so on.
ARBIB:
Well they did, and when we did it, they also agreed, but now going forward, any day of the week listen to Malcolm Turnbull, he calls the stimulus payments cash splashes, and he says that it is the wrong thing to do for the economy. But at the time, he agreed with us, I mean this is the duplicity of the Liberal Party, this is money that has gone into the pockets of pensioners, both singles and couples and also carers, disability pensioners and veterans at a time when they really needed it. So the government has acted to support pensioners and will act forward in this budget.
GILBERT:
Senator Fifield what about the unemployed? We saw reports at the weekend that they are living well below the poverty line on the Newstart allowance, on the dole, essentially, they are getting paid a lot less than the aged pension and are below the poverty line on those levels. Should that be allowed to remain in place or should the government increase the payments for the unemployed as well?
FIFIELD:
Look you certainly can make an argument for an increase in unemployment benefits, but it is important to draw a distinction between those on the age pension, and those on unemployment benefits. Those on the age pension will be living on that pension, probably for the rest of their lives, unemployment benefits are primarily we hope a transitional payment to support people who have difficulty finding a job, or who find themselves out of work. So I think that is an important distinction to bear. And it is important, I think, to look at age pensions as a category in their own right, and I think that age pensioners are entitled to, and do deserve that increase on a single age pension of $30 a week.
GILBERT:
Senator Arbib, I’ve got to say though, we receive a lot of correspondence at Sky News from people who are in awkward spots. One was from a 59-year old the other day who is on the New Start allowance, on unemployment benefit. Essentially he says he’s got no job prospects, he’s living on this level of government assistance, well below the poverty line, and he is probably going to be on that and then the aged pension beyond, it is a terrible situation for people like that. Should they be living on this very small amount of government support?
ARBIB:
Look I think it is just impossible to go into one person’s individual conditions. It’s not something I think anyone can do. The government is providing support and has been providing support to people who are unemployed and on those sorts of allowances and will continue to do that going forward. And just today you’ve seen the government is going to announce an increase in the hardship cap for homeowners and this is for people who are struggling because they have lost their jobs, or just under financial hardship. And this is going to help them in terms of keep their homes, so they can talk to their bank, get a repayment plan in place, and actually keep their houses. I think that is a great initiative that is being brought forward by Nick Sherry and something that shows how committed the government is to cushioning Australians from the global recession. We can’t fix the global recession…
GILBERT:
But the unemployment queues, the unemployment queue is getting longer and longer. Given that, should these people be living on a level of government assistance which has them below the poverty line?
ARBIB:
Well look the budget is coming forward, again, we’d like to speculate but we can’t speculate on that we’ll have to wait and….
FIFIELD:
Of course you can.
ARBIB:
…see what the budget predicts going forward.
GILBERT:
Well what about the principle of it though? I mean these people are living below the poverty line on the amount that they are receiving.
ARBIB:
The government is doing everything it can Kieran, I know you are trying to get a headline out of me on this one but the government is doing everything it can and again, today we are making a pretty critical announcement to try and lighten the load for people who have a mortgage. And under financial hardship, lost their jobs. This is what the government is about. We can’t solve the global recession, certainly, we can try and cushion the effects on Australian families and workers.
GILBERT:
Mitch Fifield what is your response to this new mortgage lifeline as it is described in today’s Australian newspaper?
FIFIELD:
Well it is a good thing to help people in hardship who have a mortgage, we’d certainly support that. But what the Government should be doing is help people stay out of hardship in the first place, help people keep their jobs. The Government should pick up Malcolm Turnbull’s proposals for instance to provide tax assistance relief for small business and to also assist small business with the payment of the super-guarantee levy. If you do those things you actually help small business keep people in jobs so that they don’t get into a position of hardship in the first place. The other thing that the Government should be doing, which they are still yet to do, is to have Wayne Swan sit down with the bank chief executives, and eyeball them. And get them to pass through the full amount of the 25 basis point Reserve Bank interest rate cut. That’s what they should do. Yes it is a good thing to help people who are in hardship in negotiating with banks about their circumstance, but far better to help people keep their jobs in the first place, and far better to ensure that all of the interest rate cuts of the Reserve Bank are passed through to consumers and it is about time they did.
ARBIB:
Helping people keep their jobs is exactly what the government is doing, and that’s what the stimulus package is about.
FIFIELD:
Well it’s not working.
ARBIB:
Mitch and the Liberals call it cash splashes…
FIFIELD:
It’s not working Mark.
ARBIB:
Well it is working Mitch.
FIFIELD:
No, it’s not, look at the unemployment figures, they are going up
ARBIB:
And can I tell you, in terms of the stimulus package, 70% of it is in infrastructure. 70%, and the infrastructure is only starting to roll out right now. Last week I was in Tasmania. The Brighton by-pass, the largest piece of road infrastructure ever in Tasmania’s history, starting 6 months early. 380 jobs. And there are projects like this starting around the country as part of the stimulus package. This is a package that is going to roads is going to rail, as Anthony Albanese said yesterday, we are going to spend this government, 18 sorry, we are going to spend more on rail in 18 months than the Howard Government spent in 12 years .
FIFIELD:
Rubbish.
ARBIB:
This is what the infrastructure package is about, this is what the stimulus package is about. It is about helping small business, helping medium sized business, keeping contractors, tradies at work Mitch, I know the Liberal Party want to run down the stimulus package but it is working and it will continue to work.
FIFIELD:
It’s not working.
GILBERT:
Ok, Senator Arbib just on that mortgage lifeline, I want to ask you about that. The government is lifting the cap on to half a million dollars in terms of mortgages if people find themselves in hardship, they lose their jobs and so on, cant pay the home-loan back, that they can renegotiate the terms of their credit contract, but, at the end of the day it is going to be the banks willingness to be flexible. And given what Mitch Fifield said about their unwillingness to pass on the full rate cut, what gives you any faith in the financial institutions to do this?
ARBIB:
We’ll have to see today in terms of the fine print of the policy, we’ve only seen a glimpse of it in the paper. But my understanding is that there will be some sort of conciliator or arbitrator in place, so that if you can’t get the banks to an agreement that you can go an outside body and try to get some sort of a conciliation which I think is a very, very good measure. And certainly we will keep the pressure up on the banks.
GILBERT:
Ok well stay with us after the break, hopefully we’ll be joined by Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, apparently stuck in Sydney traffic. Of course we’ll be joined by Mark Arbib and Mitch Fifield too so stay with us.
ENDS