Cost of Living Concession

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:16): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding the cost of living. Can the minister please outline to the council the various ways that the Marshall Liberal government is supporting South Australians by reducing the cost of living?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this particular area. I suspect that, as we discuss this matter in this place, the Treasurer is on his feet in another place advising our House of Assembly colleagues of other ways in which South Australians are benefiting from the good policies and relief that is being provided to South Australians through other means.

I mentioned our volunteers previously and, indeed, we have made screening checks free for volunteers. Under the former government they were $59.40 each and some people may have had to obtain five of them and so that would have been at considerable cost to them. As of this month, some 135,000 volunteers have received free screening checks since the fee was abolished.

That has not just saved them, as individuals, a lot of money but also their organisations, which may have generously paid for it. That enables those organisations to use those funds for other purposes, such as their own facilities and the like, training, computer services, etc. That is some $8 million worth that South Australian volunteers and their organisations have saved under this Marshall Liberal government.

We have also been supporting South Australians on low incomes to receive cheaper electricity through our Origin Energy deal, which I acknowledge was initiated under the former Labor government, but we have actually managed to strike a deal so that eligible South Australian households receive some 21 per cent off their electricity deal. We believe that some people are missing out so we certainly encourage them to apply. They can also access our annual energy concession of up to $231 in this financial year.

Further to that, we also provided a one-off stimulus payment to some 26,000 South Australians during the height of the pandemic which injected millions of dollars into the local economy and assisted some of our most vulnerable when they needed it. The $500 COVID Cost of Living Concession stimulus benefitted some 26,600 South Australians, at a total of $13.3 million, and that was on top of the Cost of Living Concession that they could receive, which was $215.10.

My colleague the Minister for Mining and Energy has been working in conjunction with Housing SA so that we can install home batteries on some many thousands of South Australian Housing Trust properties. Obviously, that is assisting people to access much cheaper electricity. They are just some of the many ways in which South Australian households are enjoying a much lower cost of living under this great government.