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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-21 Daily Xml
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Cost of Living Concession

Mrs PEARCE (King) (14:37): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. Can the minister update the house on the Malinauskas Labor government's doubling of the Cost of Living Concession for this financial year and work to review our concession system?

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:37): I thank the member for the question and also for her dedication to her local community. We promised before the election to improve the lives of South Australians, and we have spent the past year delivering those promises. As many people struggle with cost-of-living pressures, we promised to double the Cost of Living Concession for this financial year. In fact, we indexed the payment and then doubled that amount, so hundreds of thousands of South Australians received more than double the last payment provided under the previous Liberal government.

Our first budget included an extra $39.3 million to deliver on this promise, and I am proud to advise the house that our commitment has now been delivered in full. An amount of $78 million has now been paid directly into the pockets of those who need it most. Over 141,000 owner-occupier households received $449, over 57,000 renter households received $224.60 and over 11,000 Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders received $224.60. In total, more than 211,000 households received this extra help.

This was the largest state government concession payment in South Australian history. One in five South Australian households have benefited, 21,000 households received a payment who did not receive a payment last year and 5,800 of those who registered for the Cost of Living Concession also received other concessions like help with their energy bills for the very first time. We didn't just deliver on the commitment, we overdelivered.

We received letters asking why renters had to wait until February or March in the financial year while home owners got paid earlier in August. It was a really good question in this cost-of-living crisis, and we responded. Our Premier stood next to Lyndall, a pensioner who rents in the western suburbs, to announce that we would bring forward those payments to renters, so they got help at the same time as home owners. In doing so, about 50,000 renters got a double payment and were paid seven months earlier.

The Malinauskas Labor government thanks everyone who helped spread the word about the extra help, and those who helped deliver it. Applications were open until the end of December, and Concessions SA received over 70,000 phone calls and tens of thousands of extra applications. We brought in extra resources to meet the demand, and when floods hit—

An honourable member: Because you weren’t answering the phones.

The Hon. N.F. COOK: You're hilarious. When floods hit we prioritised processing for Riverland and Murrayland applicants. We also made public transport free 24 hours a day for Seniors Card holders to help ease the cost of living pressures.

Now that we have successfully delivered our election promise to double the Cost of Living Concession for this year, we are about to deliver another election commitment by reviewing our concession system. The reference group for the review meets for the first time this week, and its work will look at those who get the concessions, those who miss out on concessions, and how we can deliver concessions differently or more efficiently. When the Liberals had the chance to do something they did nothing—

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order—

The Hon. N.F. COOK: The Liberals offered zero—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. N.F. COOK: Don't like the truth? It's a shame.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. Order, member for Chaffey! The proceedings on a point of order are that I turn to the member immediately raising the point of order and hear him or her out.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. The first six words of that sentence, in every case, lead to a breach of standing order 98.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is some merit in the point of order raised with me. We are in the dusk, you might say, of the answer; it is getting late. I will listen carefully.

The Hon. N.F. COOK: Thank you, sir. The pain is nearly over for those opposite, who offered zero new money for concession recipients—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. N.F. COOK: —no free public transport for seniors—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. N.F. COOK: —no new money for public housing, amongst many other failings.

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Colton!

The Hon. N.F. COOK: It will be their legacy. In contrast, the Malinauskas Labor government is listening to our community, and on all those measures—including public transport concessions and money for public housing, amongst many other things not delivered by those opposite—we are responding to their needs.

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