GLOW ME THE MONEY
EXCLUSIVE: Struggling households get cash bonus to help with power bills
HOUSEHOLDS struggling to cope with soaring power bills will get a one-off boost of up to $125 in this week’s Federal Budget.
The One-off Energy Assistance Payment will give 3.9 million battlers – including 25,000 Territorians – $75 for singles and $125 for couples.
MORE than 24,000 welfare recipients in the Northern Territory will receive cash handouts in Tuesday’s Budget to help struggling families cover the cost of soaring power bills.
The Sunday Territorian can reveal the one-off Energy Assistance Payment of $75 for singles and $125 for couples will be deposited into the bank accounts of veterans, carers, single parents, aged pensioners and people receiving the disability support pension, before July.
About 3.9 million of Australia’s most vulnerable will receive the cash boost including more than 9000 aged pensioners across the Territory and more than 3500 single parents.
As the Coalition looks to shore-up support from older voters, Government sources confirmed Tuesday’s Budget would also include thousands of new in-home care packages to keep elderly citizens in their homes for longer.
The Sunday Territorian has confirmed that the handout was first put to Cabinet in August under former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as a way of easing cost-of-living pressures on vulnerable Australians who might miss out on income tax cuts.
Under Mr Turnbull’s proposal, which was rejected by Cabinet, pensioners would receive a one-off payment of $75 for singles and $125 for couples alongside new powers for the competition watchdog to cap default power prices.
Several ministers confirmed to the Sunday Territorian that the Government had also considered pushing energy giants to match the handout and had begun consultations with the industry. It is understood then-treasurer Scott Morrison voted against the proposal because he thought it would be better to wait until closer to the election.
“There was so much noise about leadership, everyone thought it’d be lost,” one Cabinet minister said.
It is estimated about one quarter of all voting adults will receive the payment which will cost the budget $285 million.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the “hip-pocket boost” will help to cover the next energy bill and ease the cost-of-living pressures for millions of households.
“It will particularly support older Territorians, with the payments to be provided to more than 9000 people on the Age Pension,” he said.
“We understand that the cost of living pressures are a very real challenge for many in the Northern Territory. This is why we have worked hard to deliver a strong economy and a balanced budget so we can deliver this assistance.”
The long-anticipated cash handout comes one year after the Morrison Government banked savings in its last budget by axing the energy supplement, worth up to $366 a year, despite it never passing the Senate. The Coalition spent more than two years trying to axe the payment before abandoning the plan in the final days of the Turnbull government.