The PRESIDENT (Senator the Hon. Scott Ryan) took the chair at 12:00, read prayers and made an acknowledgement of country.
Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 2019
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
The Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 2019 amends the Farm Household Support Act 2014 .
The Bill proposes to maintain the temporary increase to the farm assets value limit for Farm Household Assistance at $5 million. It also ensures allowable deductions are applied against the relevant income type for those deductions.
The government recognises the significant contribution of agriculture to the Australian economy and regional communities. We are committed to strengthening the sector to ensure it continues to be profitable, competitive, resilient and sustainable.
The government wants all Australians to prosper, to be able to inject capital into their businesses, save for their retirement, and to support their children to succeed. We also want farmers to have the supports to assess and safeguard their long-term financial security and Farm Household Allowance does this.
It is more than a social security payment – it is a package of assistance comprising income support, ancillary allowances, an independent financial assessment of the farm business, an activity supplement that pays for advice and training, and individualised case management.
To date, Farm Household Allowance has helped nearly 12,000 farmers, and almost 7,000 are receiving the payment now. We have paid more than $330 million in fortnightly payments and related supplements and allowances. Over $43 million of this was in the FHA Supplement which added up to $12,000 per household last financial year.
As this is a support payment Farm Household Allowance is aligned with mainstream social security, unless there are good reasons for departure. The most significant departure is the two tier asset test. Farmers have access to a significantly higher threshold for assets than other payments. This setting recognises that a farmer's biggest asset is their land, but in times of hardship that land is not capable of generating a return that sustains the family.
The book value of a farmer's assets often excludes them from other income support payments, yet they cannot realise those assets for self-support without taking away some, or all, of the longer-term income producing capacity of the farm enterprise.
In September 2018, the government increased its support for farmers and farming communities, by temporarily increasing the threshold for farm assets to $5 million. This was an increase of almost $2.4 million and opened up the program to many more farm households experiencing hardship.
But the government is going one step further, and from 1 July 2019, the farm assets value limit will be retrospectively maintained at $5 million. Farmers and farm households can be assured that the government stands with them and their communities to generate wealth, and build strength, prosperity, and resilience.
The Bill also seeks to amend the treatment of allowable deductions so that they can be claimed against related income – that is, either on-farm or off-farm income earned by a Farm Household Allowance recipient.
Allowable deductions will relate to the income they apply to. That is, allowable deductions associated with on-farm business income will be able to be deducted from that income and off-farm deductions will be associated with off-farm income. The exception is for people in very straitened circumstances who may offset their off-farm income from their on-farm loss. This offset has been available since 1 July 2014 and remains unchanged.
This Bill amends the Farm Household Support Act to ensure allowable deductions can be claimed against the income that they relate to.
These amendments accord with the underlying objective of the Farm Household Allowance program, and help paint as accurate a picture as possible of a recipient's farm enterprise, its viability, and possible options for improvement.
These amendments will not change income thresholds or eligibility for Farm Household Allowance.
In seeking to maintain the farm assets value limit at $5 million and amend the Farm Household Support Act 2014 to ensure allowable deductions can be claimed against related income, this Bill further demonstrates this Government's responsiveness and commitment to the needs of farmers, farming communities, and rural and regional Australia.
At the end of the motion, add:
", but the Senate condemns the Government's lack of action to assist drought-affected farmers including those who have experienced difficulty accessing the Farm Household Allowance since the scheme's commencement in July 2014."
a. assist farm families and primary producers adapt to and prepare for the impacts of increased climate variability
b. encourage farm families and primary producers to adopt self–reliant approaches to manage their business risks
c. ensure that farm families in hardship have access to a household support payment that recognises the special circumstances of farmers
d. ensure that appropriate social support services are accessible to farm families
e. provide a framework for jurisdictions’ responses to needs during periods of drought.
Minister, it is now eight months since you announced with some fanfare your drought assistance package for farmers. How much has the government actually paid in drought assistance to farming families, and how many farming families have benefited from that drought assistance?
Were concerns raised in the review about farming families that have exhausted the Farm Household Allowance and are still facing drought conditions?
I will give a little bit of background to where everything is happening at the moment in discussions with the minister and the minister's office about this particular program. I am advised that this issue has only really come to his attention in very recent times.
The recent independent review of the Allowance found that the current arrangements need to be improved to better align with the reality that farming in Australia is very volatile.
It recommended that FHA be available to farming families for four years in every 10 and that's coming before Government and their going to get a very good hearing on that.
Minister Littleproud is working with the industry on the long-term drought strategy and we'll have more to say on that in the coming months.
In order to maintain the $288 per week rent on his one-bedroom flat, and pay for utilities and food, he turned off his fridge and heating. He lived on two-minute noodles, 65-cent cans of baked beans, packet soups and bread—
He showered at the Salvos to save on water and heating and rather than use his washing machine for bed linen, he slept on his couch in an overcoat.
That the bill be now read a third time.
Health Insurance Amendment (Bonded Medical Programs Reform) Bill 2019
Western Australia has a 'critical shortage' of GPs that is set to worsen, adding more strain on emergency departments and 'poorer health outcomes'.
A new Department of Health report shows there was a shortfall of 534 general practitioners in 2015 and warns the ageing GP workforce is being replaced by millennials who want to work less.
This meant twice as many young doctors, who are opting for a better work-life balance, would need to replace the older ones. The median age of GPs in WA is now 55 and many are facing retirement.
About 500 metropolitan GPs and 134 rural GPs were due to retire by 2021. A shortfall of 774 GPs was expected by then, which would be 974 by 2025.
WA’s GP ratio is 81.5 per 100,000 people compared with the national average of 96.8, making WA the worst performing State. This was based on 'full service equivalents' which estimates total hours of work based on Medicare data.
The report identified 'maldistribution'—
of GPs across the State, with most outer metro and several rural areas suffering the lowest ratios, while the wealthy western suburbs were at 'saturation'.
A poor training system for GPs was making matters worse and was 'insufficient to replace WA’s ageing GP workforce'. WA would have to continue relying on interstate and overseas GPs to fill the gap, the report states.
... in the mid-2005-to-2009 range when we saw very large increases in household incomes, but since 2012 there's been basically no growth.
… we didn’t actually commence an investigation, because we immediately saw that the prospects of a successful investigation or prosecution were limited.
I'm 59 years old on Newstart, living in a tent with my two dogs because I can't afford to live anywhere else.
My husband is nearly 64. I'm 61. We are both on Newstart. Life is tough, going through our savings. We deserve better.
I wanted to know how they thought Bruce would have worked his way through his paperwork when he actually was dead.
… made out that I was responsible for those payments.
That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Families and Social Services (Senator Ruston), the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business (Senator Cash) and the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Payne) to questions without notice asked by Senators Walsh, Ciccone and Sheldon today relating to household income, poverty and wages.
That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Families and Social Services (Senator Ruston), the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business (Senator Cash) and the Minister representing the Minister for Industrial Relations (Senator Payne).
That the Senate take note of an answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to a question without notice asked today.
That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, by no later than 9am on 31 July 2019, the following documents as listed on the "indexed list of files created between 1 January and 30 June 2018" by the Department of the Environment and Energy:
(a) 18/003561 – [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation / Strategic Initiatives / New South Wales] Field Work Trip Plans – NSW;
(b) 18/004410 – [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation / Strategic Initiatives / New South Wales] Monaro Farm Visit and Engagement; and
(c) 18/004409 – [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation / Strategic Initiatives / New South Wales] Monaro Grasslands guidance.
(1) That the Senate—
(a) notes that:
(i) on 23 February 2016, the then Treasurer, the Honourable Scott Morrison MP, announced his decision to approve the acquisition of the land and assets of the Tasmanian Land Company (TLC), including the Van Diemen's Land (VDL) Company, by Moon Lake Investments,
(ii) in announcing the approval, the then Treasurer noted the commitment by Moon Lake to create an additional 95 jobs and to invest an additional $100 million into VDL farms, including for ecological restoration; and that, given these considerations, inter alia, he was satisfied that Moon Lake's acquisition of TLC was not contrary to the national interest,
(iii) in June 2019, the media reported extracts of a letter written by senior managers at VDL to Moon Lake seeking indemnity from any animal welfare or workplace health and safety loss or damage, and citing inadequate repairs and maintenance as the reason for this request, and
(iv) Moon Lake has reportedly invested less than $20 million of the promised additional $100 million into VDL farms; and
(b) calls upon the Treasurer to impose a new condition on Moon Lake, under section 74 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, compelling the company to:
(i) make public the details on how it intends to invest the outstanding amount of the promised $100 million into VDL farms by 31 August 2019, and
(ii) invest the outstanding amount of the promised $100 million into VDL farms by 31 July 2021.
(2) That a message be sent to the House of Representatives seeking its concurrence in this resolution.
The Senate divided. [15:39]
(The President—Senator Ryan)
That the Senate—
(a) notes:
(i) that the vast majority of Queenslanders support the Carmichael Mine and opening of the Galilee Basin, and
(ii) the billions of dollars in royalties that the resources sector delivers to Queensland (Qld), building roads, schools and hospitals for all Queenslanders; and
(b) condemns the actions and hypocrisy of extremist protestors, including:
(i) a husband and wife who, despite being arrested nine times combined, blocked trucks leaving a concrete business that had urgent works to complete at a local nursing home,
(ii) a 20 year old unemployed protestor who, despite growing up and living in his family's lavish waterside mansion on the Sunshine Coast, glued himself to a Brisbane central business district road, causing disruptions for tens of thousands of Qld workers,
(iii) the numerous protestors who have attacked and disrupted small businesses which have contracts for the construction of the Carmichael Mine and are employing hard-working Queenslanders, and
(iv) the comments made by Brisbane City Council Greens councillor, Cr Jonathan Sri, who has praised the "effective tactics" used by the Extinction Rebellion protestors, noting particularly that "As a politician I'm telling you that supporting disruptive civil disobedience and general strikes is probably your best option".
The Senate divided. [15:48]
(The President—Senator Ryan)
The Senate divided. [15:55]
(The President—Senator Ryan)
That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Families and Social Services, by 1 August 2019, a list of the people and organisations who form part of the Cashless Debit Card community reference groups, in each of the Cashless Debit Card trial sites.
The Senate divided. [15:59]
(The President—Senator Ryan)
Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:
That Australia's failed family law system is contributing to up to 21 male suicides and one female murder a week, and must be urgently fixed.
That Australia's failed family law system is contributing up to 21 male suicides and one female murder a week, and must be urgently fixed.
Law Enforcement—Joint Statutory Committee—
Discharged—Senator Fierravanti-Wells
Appointed—Senator Antic
Public Accounts and Audit—Joint Statutory Committee—
Appointed—Senator Patrick
Health Insurance Amendment (Bonded Medical Programs Reform) Bill 2019
… a fire that we hope burns bright for Australia.
We shouldn't have to be worried about having our back turned to somebody else - that we're going to get pushed, that we're going to get punched, that we're going to get spat on.
Can someone just, like … tape Nicola Sturgeon’s mouth shut? And her legs, so she can’t reproduce.
I have never done drugs in my life, I don't gamble and I don't drink alcohol. Within the first few times of using this card, I faced my first real problem, public shaming, where one of the old EFTPOS machines was not working properly and two tradies behind me said, 'Look, it's one of those junkie cards.' Immediately I broke down and started to cry and ran out of the store. I have never been subject to such public humiliation in my life which sent me into a spiral where I didn't want to use my card again. Anxiety attacks got so bad I was vomiting and I lost 3.5 kilos in a week.
I'm an adult that managed perfectly fine before the card was introduced. I don't drink. I don't do drugs of any kind, and I certainly make sure my sons are catered for.
After being a father for 15 years my boys have never gone without anything until now. My eldest son has been bullied and ridiculed at school because another student saw me using the card. He is now known as 'the son of a crackhead'. His pocket money that he works his backside off for is now cashless because the 20 per cent I'm 'allowed' is for second-hand items, such as uniforms, emergencies or just a good bargain that would benefit my children.
I now can't take my youngest son to the bowling alley on the weekend. It's something he really enjoys and looks forward to as I only get him on weekends due to school. Now I can't use the card there as they sell alcohol.
I didn't sign up for this card or its discriminatory policies. It was forced on me and my children against my will and now me and my children have to go without and completely rearrange a schedule that worked for many years. It is an absolute joke.
Being placed on the card has destroyed my mental health. The terror of not having control over when my bills will be paid, or the assurance of my bank being a reliable institution, means that even when I fall asleep despite my pain, it's often interrupted by nightmares.
The card is making life more difficult. If I want to pay bills early I need to ask permission. If I want to pay extra rent I need to ask permission. When I can't pay bills early I can't even move the money into a separate savings account to make sure I don't spend it. I have to pay my rent, then watch the account closely for days because payments get bounced back.
Recently, I went to my rego 3 months early but MainRoads wouldn't take my money. I asked Indue to put the money into a different safe account until I'm allowed to pay the bill, but nope they told me just don't spend the money.
Being the sole parent of my two children without child support due to being victim of domestic abuse the card was an additional kick in the guts for me and added further to my anxiety and depression.
I also suffer (and will continue to suffer) from early stage bowel cancer (severe FAP with cancerous tumours) and will spend the rest of my life maintaining my health including multiple surgeries and living with life altering issues including incontinence and a stoma.
I'm only 27.
On top of that I have a child with suspected Autism and is diagnosed severely developmentally delayed and attends early intervention programs and specialists.
With the card I cannot save or provide my children with any future support (trust or inheritance) if in the likely event something will happen to me.
I fear it. I've managed to keep my family afloat by haggling, price shopping and using every trick I know.
Every financial advisor has asked me how I'm doing it on the funds I have available, but now the government wants to tell me how to budget. A government that gets more in debt every year wants to limit my bag of tricks.
It's hard enough to survive, if we get this, I don't think we'll be able to anymore.