MEMBER for Bendigo Lisa Chesters says the federal government's changes to planned social services legislation is a victory for Bendigo people.
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The government has "repackaged" planned welfare cuts to introduce the measures as four separate bills, after its original bill was facing certain defeat in the Senate.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that will reduce the income threshold for Family Tax Benefit B and involve the government reviewing cases of people younger than 35 who receive the disability support pension on Thursday.
The bill was supported by the Labor Party and is expected to pass in the Senate.
But the bill did not include some of the more controversial measures the government had planned to enforce, including making unemployed people younger than 30 wait six months to receive the Newstart allowance and reducing the aged pension.
Ms Chesters said the revised legislation was a "humiliating backdown" for the government..
“I want to congratulate everyone in Bendigo and the electorate who contacted my office, who sent emails, signed petitions and who spoke out about these changes," she said.
“It’s them who forced this backdown."
But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said the government was not backing down from any of its policies and would continue to pursue all of its welfare policies.
“Labor’s petty political stunt today that suggested the Government is backing down on our Budget measures is a lie," he said.
“We remain committed to the Budget."