Seniors Card Fuel Discount

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the Minister for Health please advise if there are options available for senior citizens to obtain the United fuel discount that was recently announced if they do not have a digital footprint? With your leave, sir, and out of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr BELL: Max, an 83-year-old Mount Gambier resident, visited our office in search of assistance to obtain the 4¢ per litre discount that is now available for South Australian Seniors Card members. Max has a valid Seniors Card but does not have an email address. Is there any way that Max is able to obtain access to this discount?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:42): Thank you very much to the member for Mount Gambier for his question and for his concern and for raising the issue of Max in his electorate. For members who aren't aware, the Seniors Card is obviously a very successful program in South Australia. We have recently launched the new 2024 Seniors Card guide, which no doubt will be available through everybody's electorate office. I encourage all people live streaming to go into their local MP's office—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: That's right, the thousands and thousands.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: That's right, Max is definitely not online watching. But you can go into any of our electorate offices and get a copy of that guide. One of the new elements that is in that guide, as well as hundreds and hundreds of other offers right across South Australia, is a new arrangement with United Petroleum to enable people with a Seniors Card to be able to register to get 4¢ off per litre all the time. This has been exceptionally popular. In the first few days, over 10,000 South Australians with a Seniors Card registered for the program, so it shows that there is significant demand and popularity out there for taking part in that.

Of course, the member does raise a good point in that with all of our technologies, with all of our offerings to people, we need to be obviously bearing in mind that there are still people who are not digitally literate, who don't have access to computers, who don't have access to emails. This has already been raised, I understand, with the Office for Ageing Well. They are very happy to help people through the process if they have difficulties.

There is a seniors information line that the Office for Ageing Well, in my department, run, and I certainly encourage Max, or any other of the member for Mount Gambier's constituents, to contact them if they are having difficulty, because I know we will be very keen to help them through the process and make sure that they can register for that product, and make sure that they can get the full benefit of the power of their Seniors Card.

Of course, the other power that doesn't need any registering for is the benefit that we provided through public transport through the city, but there are many hundreds of other benefits and offerings through that Seniors Card booklet right across the state and I encourage people, if they are not registered for the Seniors Card, please do so, and, if they are, make sure they know the full power of what that card unlocks.