E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC STEPHEN CENATIEMPO BREAKFAST SHOW
TUESDAY, 2 MARCH 2021
SUBJECTS: Political panel with Zed Seselja; Aged Care Royal Commission; JobSeeker.
STEPHEN CENATIEMPO, HOST: Well, it's time for our regular Tuesday political panel. We are joined by the Labor Member for Canberra, Alicia Payne. Good morning, Alicia.
ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Good morning, Stephen.
CENATIEMPO: And the ACT Liberal Senator and Minister for International Development in the Pacific Zed Seselja. G'day Zed.
ZED SESELJA, SENATOR FOR THE ACT: Morning Stephen. Morning Alicia.
PAYNE: Morning Zed.
CENATIEMPO: Big news today, of course is the Aged Care Royal Commission has made 148 recommendations to reform the sector. What difficulties Zed is it going to cause the fact that the commissioners have been split on a number of issues?
SESELJA: Well, look I don't think that's the most important thing, Stephen. I mean, I think it's obviously a very comprehensive report. When the Prime Minister set it up, he expected that there would be a lot of tough lessons for us. A lot, a lot has been done, but a lot more needs to be done in aged care. And so what the task is now is to respond immediately, as we have with several hundred million dollars of injections. But through the budget process, working through those reforms, we accept that for a long time aged care hasn't been as good as it should be, even though we've been investing in record amounts. We've invested in things like home care, especially over the last few years. But this report, obviously sobering reading, we want to make sure that those who go into aged care or those who receive aged care in their home, are getting the absolute best possible care they can and that's going to be our focus, it has been our focus. But this provides a bit of a roadmap for us to improve the situation significantly.
CENATIEMPO: Alicia, I heard a figure quoted this morning that one in four people in aged care facilities have been mistreated. And that is unacceptable, no two ways about that. But do we run the risk of maligning an entire industry and missing the fact that four in five are treated well?
PAYNE: Well, let's say that while the Royal Commission has exposed some absolutely shocking and unacceptable neglect and mistreatment of residents. I would say that for anyone who's had a loved one in aged care while these stories are absolutely shocking, we know that they're not uncommon. I think many, many people, most people that you talk to them about their experience of a loved one in aged care, they have been absolutely shocked by some of the things that gone on. And there's no two ways about it, this report shows that the sector is absolutely in crisis. So, I really hope that we do see Scott Morrison and the Government really look carefully at these 148 recommendations, I know that Labor will be, but this is a this is a real key priority. And people are actually scared to go into aged care or to see their loved ones go into aged care. And there's something seriously wrong with that. Like as a nation, this is a really important priority that some of our most vulnerable people, older Australians, you know, they deserve so much better than this.
CENATIEMPO: Indeed. I will stick with you for a moment Alicia, the JobSeeker allowance has been increased by $50 a fortnight. Plenty of critics out there saying it's not enough but I mean, was there ever going to be a figure that would please everybody?
PAYNE: Well, I don't think it's enough. You know, we're talking about $3.50 per day. You know, we saw during Coronavirus that the Government actually almost doubled that payment, and were able to lift people out of poverty in a time of peak unemployment. So that just shows you how powerful and how important these payments are. We saw people for the first time saying that they could afford to eat three meals a day, to heat their homes, to get a haircut, things that most of us take for granted. This, this is an insult to people to say that $3.50 per day's going to help with things like rent, putting petrol in the car and the costs that people are facing in Australia today. And I think that the Government should have done the proper work, they have the data and the resources to really look into exactly where this payments should be set. We can't do that because we're in opposition. And I say this as someone whose career before politics was in that sort of modelling and analysis of social security policy and its impact on poverty. And they could do that work and they should have because while, you need to get that rate right, this is clearly well short of any of the rates that people have been calling for for many years now.
CENATIEMPO: Zed do many of the critics of this $50 increase miss the point that this should not be an alternative and it should only be a safety net?
SESELJA: Well, that's exactly right. It is a safety net. And if you look at the $50 increase, it's the biggest increase since the mid 80s. And, so that comes with a price tag. And you know, that $9 billion has to be found from somewhere and so these are the balance, this is the balancing act we have to find. You know, there's no doubt that it is there as a safety net. Our focus is on getting people back into work. That's what we're doing and a lot of those jobs are returning, over 90% of the jobs that were lost are returning into the economy. So we want to look after people when they're doing it tough, but there's no bottomless pit of money, this comes with a $9 billion price tag. And I guess the question to Alicia would be, how much would the Labor Party spend over and above that $9 billion increase, because whilst you know we'd all like to do more, we've got to make sure we can pay for it and we've got a responsibility to those who have lost their jobs and are looking for work and we'll do everything we can to get them back into work. But we've also got a responsibility to everyone who is paying taxes and will pick up the bill.
CENATIEMPO: Zed I'll stick with you.
PAYNE: Can I just, sorry if I could quickly respond. It's not a safety net if people cannot live on the payment. So our Social Security system is failing Australians at the moment, the real safety net are the food banks and the community sector that people need to access because they cannot live on this payment.
SESELJA: I'll just say that 99% of course are not on the base rate. 99% of those are getting some payments over and above but the question would still be there for Alicia, if $50 is not enough, and then what would Labor commit to?
PAYNE: And this is another thing that the Government keeps saying about all these other supplements. They get an energy supplement which is 65 cents per day, and they may get rent assistance, which by definition does not cover their rent. So I wish the Government would stop talking about all these other supplements, that it's not you know making an outcome.
SESELJA: Rent assistance is real. Rent assistance is real Alicia. But the point
PAYNE: I know that it's real.
SESELJA: That you haven't answered is the point that you haven't answered is how much would Labor commit to if $50 a week, a fortnight sorry, increase is not enough, then how much would Labor commit to.
PAYNE: Well, the point is about priorities Zed, it's about like
CENATIEMPO: But Alicia that's a fair question though.
PAYNE: Well, we haven't committed to a rate. And we're getting criticism for not committing to a rate. But the point is that this is not enough. And the Government should have done the proper modelling and I just think that this this rate is simply not enough. It's basically not an increase. It's $3.50 a day that wouldn't even pay for a coffee, not that people on JobSeeker can have coffee. You know, they're barely feeding themselves.
CENATIEMPO: Unfortunately, I did want to talk about the ACCC report into electricity prices and the NBN but we've run out of time. Zed Seselja and Alicia Payne thanks for your time this morning.
SESELJA: Thanks very much guys. Appreciate it.
PAYNE: Thanks Stephen.
ENDS
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