Seniors Support

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-128074

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Seniors Support

Mr PETER SIDGREAVES (Camden) (15:18:52):

My question is addressed to the Minister for Multiculturalism, and Minister for Seniors. Will the Minister update the House on how the Liberal‑Nationals Government is boosting household budgets for seniors across New South Wales?

Mr MARK COURE (OatleyMinister for Multiculturalism, and Minister for Seniors) (15:19:08):

— I thank the energetic member for Camden for his question. Seniors have worked incredibly hard and made many sacrifices to enable us to have the great State we do today. That is why the Government's priority is to ensure seniors in New South Wales are able to enjoy their lives and the lifestyle that they helped build. One of the ways we are ensuring this is by providing rebates to seniors of all backgrounds, including pensioners and self‑funded retirees.

Over 70 rebates are available, which have only been made possible thanks to our Government's strong financial management. These savings span right across government, from council rebates to the gold Opal card, which provides unlimited travel across Greater Sydney for no more than $2.50 a day. It is available to more than 1.8 million Seniors Card holders in New South Wales. This is unlike those opposite. When it comes to helping seniors across New South Wales, Labor has no plan. The people of New South Wales do not need to wait until closer to the election; they only need to look back at Labor's track record to see it does not have a plan when it comes to energy bill relief for our seniors.

Mr Paul Scully:

You have got 12 years of policies and you cannot come up with one policy.

Mr MARK COURE:

You might learn something here. In 2019 Labor wanted to cut, axe and burn our Government's $200 electricity rebate for self-funded retirees.

The SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Wollongong to order for the first time. I call the member for Wollongong to order for the second time.

Mr MARK COURE:

Unlike Labor, we have a strong plan to boost the budgets of our seniors. The people of New South Wales know our track record and the recent budget builds on it, with the introduction of the Energy Bill Buster program. This is a fantastic program that provides choice—there is a lot of choice being provided this week in question time—to our seniors on how they save money on their energy bills. This program allows pensioners to swap out 10 years of energy rebates for a free solar system or energy-efficient appliances up to the value of $4,000. Since it was launched recently the program has already received over 4,000 applications and already installed more than 1,500 solar systems. This program is going to deliver ongoing energy savings of up to $600 a year, providing that much-needed boost to the household budget. We are getting on with the job of helping our seniors. We have a proven record of delivering savings for seniors and making a real difference across New South Wales.