Pensioners and those on Commonwealth Rent Assistance set to receive a boost

joining me live is the Social Services Minister Amanda rishworth Amanda rishworth thanks for your time from Adelaide there I wanted to start with an announcement I understand you're happy to make on the program about what the increases will be in Social Security payments the pension uh and rental assistance when indexation kicks in in September can you take us through that yeah look uh as you know Andrew indexation happens twice a year uh on things like the pension and job seeker and we're able to set announce the new rates that will come into effect on the 20th of September uh those rates include and I just want to get them right a single pensioner will go up uh by $281 a fortnite taking their pension to $1,144 40 and of course a couple pension will get $424 job Seeker will increase by $15.30 and uh as a result of this increase along with our base rate increase um job Seeker has gone up $135 since we've come uh to office but of course legislation passed through the parliament uh also has uh has gone through to rent assistance and rent assistance people will be getting an extra $23 um in their rent assistance at the maximum rates um because of our 10% increase along with indexation so this is real cost of living relief for people um indexation is a very very important part uh of keeping our social security system keeping up with the cost of living and it has been disappointing in recent months we've seen um Angus Taylor question the benefit um of this indexation but we're proudly saying that indexation is important to ensure those on social security keep up with the cost of living I guess indexation obviously requires a percentage increase and we've seen inflation vary from 7% to 3% so what is the actual percentage increase for these payments the percentage increase is looked at the uh preceding 6 months there's a 2% increase for job Seeker um and the pension is a 2.6% increase obviously when it comes to rent assistance uh that is uh that is the the inflation the 2% plus the 10% that we put through the parliament as well to increase the maximum rate so um there is that are the figures that we're working on but it is every six months and it's an important adjustment to support people with the cost of living it says something about the cost of living don't you think that basically the doll now is $22,000 a year and the single parent pension mens $25,000 a year well uh we obviously need to support people with uh cost of living um of course job Seeker is an important payment uh uh for people to get back on their feet and get a job of course the pension and single parenting payment is something quite different um that is something to support people uh who are not able uh when it comes to single parenting payment to get back into the workforce cuz they ra raising a child and of course the pension including the disability support pension and the age pension uh is uh in recognition that people aren't actually working and need that support so look you know the it is important that these payments keep up with cost of living um like I said it was disappointing to see Angus Taylor question this as somehow unrestrained spending it's an important feature of the social security system has an inflationary effect been modeled in terms of what these increas es will do because we know people on these low incomes the money just goes out the door straight away oh look um our changes um whether it be uh to rent assistance in particular um actually have downward pressure uh on inflation um that is that that uh the impact across the board on rents if it had not been for our Commonwealth rent assistance means rents would have actually been higher so when it comes to something like Commonwealth rent assistance that's uh really really important of course uh other other um increases to indexation are are really important to support people but we're talking about a small uh overall small group in our economy of course uh there's wage earners there's uh um there's many other sources of spending uh in our economy um but this is an important cost of living measure and that's what we've been doing Andrew through our whole budget is working out how we can responsibly deliver meaningful cost of living relief at the same point as putting downward pressure on interest rates let me ask now about another area of your portfolio the gambling reforms being proposed you actually have main Carriage of this although Michelle Rowen the communications Minister has Carriage of the gambling advertising aspect which has got the most publicity yet we had this parliamentary committee led by the late Peter Murphy of course recommended gambling advertising be banned but it had 31 recommendations in all one of them was a National Online Gambling regulator to be set up will you be setting up that regulator and what would their role be well look firstly I would say that 21 of the 32 recommendations uh involved in the Peter Murphy report directly impact states and territories um and involve States and territories because there is joint responsibility obviously any uh National regulator would involve States and territories handing over uh their their powers to the Commonwealth so look we are working as Minister I'm working very closely with my state and territory counterparts to look at what we can do in a coordinated fashion naum framework which do you think they'll hand over I do think they will do it oh no I'm not suggesting they would hand over those Powers what I'm suggesting uh is in the essence of that recomend Commendation uh was about better National coordination that's at the heart of the recommendation and so the National Consumer framework was one of those examples where States and territories and the Commonwealth work together we brought in our activity statements we got uh more responsive taglines that send people to get uh support and help if they've got a problem um bet stop is another example um of what was in that consumer framework and so the question is that consumer framework has finished question is what comes next um how do we work together as States and territories as a commonwealth who have joint responsibilities in this space and um I've had very good conversations with my state and territory counterparts about what does what is the framework that comes next to ensure that the essence of that recommendation um which is national uh collaboration coordination across the country can move forward would you like to see that National regulator and would gambling companies be levied to pay for it well look firstly I would say that I I have been working very well with my state and territory counterparts they have uh we we have together brought in a a number of reforms really important reforms um and have worked really closely together there's some things that are in the conwell's jurisdiction like uh B uh Banning the use of credit cards for online G Ling and that's something really important there's other areas such as training uh training for people that work uh in online gambling areas how they get the best training uh that's really a best place with States and territories so look there is uh a dual responsibility here and I know there is a real desire from States and territories to work with the Commonwealth on how we continue to make progress to minimize harm Amanda want to briefly ask you again do you think there'll be a national regulator set up yes or no well look I look at this point that is not uh in the discussions with States and territories what is in the discussion with States and territories is around how we better coordinate uh and move forward uh uh unified effort when it comes to harm minimization on when it comes to online G gaming we are absolutely or online gambl we are absolutely committed to working with our states and territories the framework matters and that's what I'll continue to work with my St counterpart another recommendation was an advertising campaign aimed at young people and children in particular around gambling will you be doing that well look that's something we're looking at very carefully on of how we uh be best get the message out the community message out about the dangers of online uh gambling one of the really interesting statistics coming out is there is a lot more people that are have moderate risk of online gambling harms then realize it and so making sure people are aware of uh the the uh risk they are facing is really important which is why why the activity statements were so important that's letting people know every month how much they've lost how much they've won and lost but more often than not it's lost um and making sure people people are aware of of what it is costing them now uh there've been reports that the government's not going to take up the recommendation of a full gambling advertising ban but that you're looking at a partial ban During certain hours is that on the table and and could you ban this situation where you're watching a sporting event and commentators are giving gambling commentary during matches well look Minister Roland is working through uh that uh recommendation um of course she's working very diligently what she's said and what the government's committed to is is what actually uh reduces online harms that is our Focus so our focus is how do you reduce online harms ensure that children are are protected um and of course that we we do reduce problem gambling um in this country so everything has to be guided by that she's working uh very hard to uh you know across across the board uh looking at what uh What uh where we can go when it comes to advertising all right domestic violence will be discussed at National cabinet this Friday a Sunday Telegraph report today says the New South Wales Premier Chris mins is looking at GPS tracking of DV offenders what's your reaction to that well look I think uh we need to look at all the tools available uh to uh ensure that we reduce violence against women and children children and ultimately eliminate it and uh we know uh that um uh technological facilitated abuse for example is something that uh uh is something that really impacts um uh a lot of people and so we need to look at all our different tools there's going to be no Silver Bullet when it comes to family and domestic violence but it is a joint responsibility between the Commonwealth and the states um we've been really putting investment in this area 3 .4 billion dollar of investment across uh our national plan whether it's prevention early intervention uh and and Recovery healing response um so you know it is important that we have a consistent and persistent focus on this and I'm really pleased that states and territories are bringing ideas to the table bringing initiatives to the table because they have a lot of the levers when it comes to uh particularly those highrisk offenders but we all have a role to play and that's why the Commonwealth will be of course um uh coming to the table in good faith and whether it's to discuss Frontline services or uh prevention programs we'll keep working with our state and territory colleagues on these in these areas I wanted to ask you now about the census the contentious questions that were proposed and how the PM stopped them but is backtracked on the sexual orientation question I guess it's a matter of irony isn't it that the decision on this was taken to prevent a furor but it has actually caused one well look uh Andrew we were presented as a government um uh questions that were very complex in the census and what the prime minister's been really clear and what the government's been really clear is you know we want people to complete the census and we want simple questions that people can understand and answer that's really important the census isn't for another uh 2 years um um and I think uh uh we've got plenty of time to make sure that we get the question right and I think that's what's really important here and I think the other important thing is um that the census isn't the only uh source of important information uh we can understand the experiences of lgbtiqa plus people and of course um uh uh for example uh we are doing an action plan on the health and well-being of lgbtiqa plus people and and that includes a whole lot of research so look we need to make sure that uh we are properly responding uh to that community and and and support them in the best way we can um but of course um uh we need to also get the sensus questions right and that's what this has really been about all right the contentious decision by Tanya pisc on the Blain gold mine it's caused some consternation with the nf's government the mining Community do you think this issue could hurt you government and are you concerned about a disallowance motion in the Senate Against The Minister's decision well firstly I'd say Minister PC is uh didn't knock the the mine back and what she did is uh within her in the she respected the law and the question was around where the tailing Dam uh was actually going to be built and the impact that that would have now as the Prime Minister said he's very keen to see see projects like this go ahead but it needs to be within the law and I think um there is work being done now um I think very constructive work uh being done with the New South Wales government and the company on where that uh where that tailing Dam might be able to be situated that's within the law um and that that's a that's a good thing and I I hope they are able to work this through and finally Jim Charmers gave this speech this week where he said Peter Dutton with his divisiveness had disqualified himself from being a viable alternative as PM pretty strong stuff now I was in the house for question time the other week and Peter Dutton sent you a note through an attendant a bit of a joke as I understand it about the number of fers you were holding which you laughed at so what's your impression of Peter Dutton is he the dangerous divisive character Jim Charmers says he is because he has a sense of humor at least how do you find him personally well well of course um all politicians are human um and and you know all of us have a sense of humor I think though what Jim was um talking about and and actually really serious is that in this time where there is um you know there is a lot of instability around the world we actually need leaders that bring people together and that is critically critically important um um what people look to their leaders um for a signal and we need people that bring people together unfortunately that hasn't been what Peter duden has done he has uh every opportunity looked at sort of throwing bombs uh at at at policy being negative about things um saying no to things but more recently what we've seen is much more than that which is very worrying trying to use division for political gain and I think that is is probably the most uh dangerous thing that you can do in politics is try and divide people and so I certainly uh accept uh uh you know certainly um uh also agree with what Jim had to say Mena richworth thanks so much for your time this Father's Day thank you