Policy changes to pension work test will cost $55m, Chalmers says
Now we’ve got questions. The PM is asked about the pension changes and if the government has modelled how many people will re-enter the workforce:
Albanese said:
This is something I raised in one of my vision statements in Brisbane, one of the first ones we did in 2020. Speaking about the ageing of the population. And how we value older Australians and enable them, facilitate them to make a greater contribution.
This is a time limited measure to see how that works. But it’s consistent with what I said then and it’s consistent particularly with what the needs and the economy are right now.
The PM has gone to Chalmers:
One of the 36 concrete outcomes from the jobs and skills summit is to find a way to encourage older workers to work a bit more, if they want to do that. And we’ve been working on this policy, frankly, since before the election.
Chalmers says the policy change will cost around $55m and the government will do further costing.
As it stands right now, you can bank $7,800 a year that you can earn before your pension is affected. And we’re proposing to boost that by another $4,000.
Some sort of income credit, so that people can work a bit more in they want to. Crucially, in addition to that, we want to legislate two other items, one is not being thrown off the pension and having to reply over a period, one of the things that does make older Australian workers a bit reluctant, in the sense they may get thrown off and have to run the gauntlet again to get back on the pension. We want to take that away.
And secondly we want to make legislative changes when it comes to things like the pensioner concession card for the same sort of reasons.
Key events
Earlier today unemployed advocates from the Antipoverty Centre and Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union protested outside Parliament House.
In a statement the groups said the “mini jobs summit” was banned before it went ahead.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and JobSeeker recipient Jay Coonan:
We’re in a poverty crisis. The full employment white paper they have in the works won’t put a roof over our heads or put food on our tables. We need decent, secure work for everyone who wants it, but the fixation with full employment needs to end – a liveable social safety net is vital to protect people from being forced into unsuitable, unsafe and underpaid work.
First and foremost, poverty and “mutual” obligations are barriers to work – and they could fix those overnight.
We have many concrete proposals to contribute, but they have refused to include unemployed advocates as participants in the Jobs and Skills Summit. That’s why we were forced to take things into our own hands and come to them. We don’t want tokenistic inclusion, we want to be treated as equals.
We need a genuinely safe safety net and we need it now. Lift all payments above the poverty line, then work with us to do the hard work of addressing the structural barriers to work facing so many of us who have relied on Centrelink payments long-term.
Before we do anything else, unemployed people need enough money to live, we need our unpaid work to be valued, and to stop being punished with “mutual” obligations.
The Jobs and Skills Summit is promising nothing to help us with these massive barriers to paid work. #BTPM pic.twitter.com/mbtaU3ZcqN
— kristin #BTPM (she/her) (@kristin8X) September 2, 2022
Back to the jobs summit – if you want to read the full list of outcomes, and what the government plans to start doing – Jim Chalmers has tweeted it out:
Victoria updates prevention of animal cruelty laws
Just darting quickly away from the jobs summit to this story from AAP.
Victorians who are intentionally or recklessly cruel to animals would face up to five years jail and fines of almost $228,000 under proposed laws.
The new category of offence would come under legislation replacing the existing Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and apply to the most serious types of cruelty, according to the state government.
They could include deliberately burning a dog with a cigarette, or shocking a racehorse with an electronic prodder.
Victorians would also have to abide by minimum care requirements under the new laws.
People who failed to meet specific care and cruelty requirements could face fines of more than $3,600, with examples including using prong collars on dogs, or failing to meet fruit tree-netting requirements.
Key outcomes from jobs and skills summit
Before the PM’s presser, the government released a document outlining the key outcomes of the jobs summit.
We know some of them already, but under the immediate action the government will take to “promote equal opportunities and reducing barriers to employment” there is a little bit more info on the pension change and other outcomes. Here is what is listed:
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Provide age pensioners with a temporary upfront $4,000 income bank credit to allow them to work and earn more before their pension is reduced.
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Strengthen existing reporting standards to require employers with 500 or more employees to commit to measurable targets to improve gender equality in their workplaces.
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Require businesses with 100 employees or more to publicly report their gender pay gap to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
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Require the Australian Public Service to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and to set targets to improve gender equity in the public service.
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Strengthen the Respect@Work council by giving business and unions a permanent seat at the table, along with government and civil.
PM says enterprise bargaining not working to lift wages or productivity
And lastly, the PM is talking about enterprise bargaining:
Enterprise bargaining is not working at the moment to lift wages. Enterprise bargaining is not working to boost productivity. The aim of our industrial relations system has to be about two things. One, boosting the economy by lifting productivity. Secondly, lifting living standards by boosting wages.
PM says Labor will explore pathways for international graduates to stay
The PM has been asked about the plan for foreign graduates and if they will be offered pathways to permanent residency:
This is a standalone measure that is about people who have studied here being able to make a longer contribution.
At the moment, there are various categories, two, three, four years. It is extending that by two years and that is the focus as well. Other pathways, if people wish to, having studied here, go to apply to residency.
Of course, those pathways are considered separate from this measure. But what this is about is essentially giving work rights so that we get greater input as well from people who have had the benefit of studying here and are then able to stay for longer.
Essentially from next year is what it is focused on. We will work through some of the legislative time frames for these measures.
Gallagher says $5bn childcare investment will be in October budget
The $5bn investment that we announced as part of the election campaign will be provided for in the October budget. But with the starting date of 1 July. That is affordable, it’s responsible, it was part of our election plan.
But it’s also about getting in place the systems that are needed to make sure those payments flow appropriately when they need to, and as they need to. I think that’s the commitment we made.
PM acknowledges ‘enormous cooperation’ on industrial relations
Guardian Australia’s Paul Karp asks the PM if the government will consider the Greens’ amendments (such as making the minimum wage a living wage) to the industrial relations legislation:
Albanese:
I’ve been focused on the agreement that has been reached. I think there’s been enormous cooperation. The fact you have had the Council of Small Business standing with the ACTU, the Business Council of Australia standing with the ACTU, gives me great heart about positive measures going forward.
PM wants migrants to have path to security and permanency in Australia
Albanese is asked about the increase in migrants:
I say very unashamedly that my starting point is in favour of giving people the security that comes with a path to permanent migration, a path to being an Australian citizen, I’ve done similar things of course in the discussions that I had with prime minister Ardern of New Zealand as well.
My general approach is – we are with the exception of First Nations people a nation of migrants or descendants of migrants. People have come to this country and put a stake down. They’ve been able to get a mortgage, to have kids, have a family, all of that is impossible if it’s all temporary.
It makes no sense for example to bring in a nurse for two years, three years, and then see them leave, then find – try and find another nurse to take that place, have them train, have them adapt to Australian conditions as well.
Policy changes to pension work test will cost $55m, Chalmers says
Now we’ve got questions. The PM is asked about the pension changes and if the government has modelled how many people will re-enter the workforce:
Albanese said:
This is something I raised in one of my vision statements in Brisbane, one of the first ones we did in 2020. Speaking about the ageing of the population. And how we value older Australians and enable them, facilitate them to make a greater contribution.
This is a time limited measure to see how that works. But it’s consistent with what I said then and it’s consistent particularly with what the needs and the economy are right now.
The PM has gone to Chalmers:
One of the 36 concrete outcomes from the jobs and skills summit is to find a way to encourage older workers to work a bit more, if they want to do that. And we’ve been working on this policy, frankly, since before the election.
Chalmers says the policy change will cost around $55m and the government will do further costing.
As it stands right now, you can bank $7,800 a year that you can earn before your pension is affected. And we’re proposing to boost that by another $4,000.
Some sort of income credit, so that people can work a bit more in they want to. Crucially, in addition to that, we want to legislate two other items, one is not being thrown off the pension and having to reply over a period, one of the things that does make older Australian workers a bit reluctant, in the sense they may get thrown off and have to run the gauntlet again to get back on the pension. We want to take that away.
And secondly we want to make legislative changes when it comes to things like the pensioner concession card for the same sort of reasons.
Gallagher says women’s equality will be front and centre for this government
It was no mistake that the panel on gender equality and pay for women was the first thing that we did at this summit.
It then fed into every other session of the summit and, yeah, I think it’s just an amazing – the momentum is there, it’s over to all of you now to keep it going.
But you know, for too long, women’s policy, gender equality, has been in the wilderness. Certainly under the last government. It’s front and centre in this government and I acknowledge the prime minister’s role in this.
Finance minister says women made up 50% of summit participation
The minister for finance, Katy Gallagher, is speaking now:
I would like to make a few comments about the women’s involvement in the summit and in short I reckon women nailed it at this summit.
They were 50% of the participants, they led the panels, they were amazing speakers. And I think for me the most important outcome of this summit was that women’s equal participation, gender equality, is recognised unanimously by everyone who attended the summit as critical to our economic resilience and prosperity.
It’s not an add-on, it’s not something you do after lunch, not something nice, it’s not social policy, it’s economic good, good economic policy, and everyone signed up to that.
And I pay credit again to the prime minister and the treasurer for their inclusive approach and the way that this summit was organised from the get-go.
Chalmers hopes summit is start of a new era
I want the Australian people to know that this effort to find common ground doesn’t end on a Friday afternoon in Canberra. This, I hope, is the beginning of a new era of cooperation and finding consensus, trying to find that common ground in the interests of a common purpose and the common good.
I think we’ve shown here that there’s a better way to govern this country.
Respect, inclusive and humble way, that recognises there’s good ideas that come from every corner of the country, every part of the economy, and that’s the least the people’s national government is to do, to listen and act where there’s sufficient ground to move forward, there’s many more areas where that’s been possible than we even anticipated, than we even hoped and I’m very proud of what’s happened.
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