Australia: Plans to make immigrants wait 15 YEARS before claiming aged and disability pensions and other welfare

Plan to make immigrants wait 15 YEARS before claiming aged and disability pensions and other welfare cuts 'will save Australia $900 million'

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• Immigrants will have to wait 15 years before receiving pensions under new laws 
• Migrants are due to face tougher residency requirements in new welfare bill 
• The latest welfare cuts are expected to save the Government $900million
• An array of other new welfare proposals has been revealed on Wednesday
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By Australian Associated Press

PUBLISHED: 22:51 EDT, 20 June 2017 | UPDATED: 05:10 EDT, 21 June 2017

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Migrants will be forced to wait up to 15 years before qualifying for aged or disability pensions under new laws bound for federal parliament.

The Turnbull government is also reviving a push to cut off pensions to people after six weeks overseas, as part of a bundle of welfare cuts expected to net almost $900 million in savings.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter argues it is reasonable to expect people coming to Australia have contributed to the economy and society before claiming a pension.

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The Turnbull government are proposing an array of new welfare proposals that will net almost $900million in savings

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Under existing laws, people must have been an Australian resident for 10 years - five of which must be continuous - before applying for a pension. The government want to change it to 15

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Social Services Minister Christian Porter (right) has backed the proposals that will save the Turnbull government $900million  

Under existing laws, people must have been an Australian resident for 10 years - five of which must be continuous - before applying for a pension.

New welfare proposals to be introduced

• Increasing the maximum income test taper of Family Tax Benefit A from 20 cents to 30 cents per dollar once a family's income exceeds a threshold of $94,316
• Doubling the maximum time somebody has to wait for Newstart, study, sickness or youth allowance if they have liquid assets (such as cash) from 13 to 26 weeks
• Pegging pensioner education supplements and education entry payment rates to study loans and time spent studying
• Restricting student relocation scholarships to people studying in Australia and whose parental family home or usual place of residence is also in Australia
• wants to extend this to 10 years of continuous residence - including five years during a person's working life - before they can seek a pension.

Alternatively, migrants may claim a pension after 15 years of continuous residence.

'This will mean that most people accessing the pension will have made some contribution to the Australian economy through paid work and paying taxes before they receive a pension,' Mr Porter said on Wednesday.

The measure will only affect about 2400 per year but is expected to save roughly $119 million over the forward estimates.

Nobody who currently receives a pension would be impacted and only 2 per cent of applicants beyond July 2018 are expected to be affected.

The government is also trying again to stop pension payments to people who've been overseas for six weeks and immediately for permanent departures after previously failing to get the measure through parliament

A raft of other welfare proposals are also woven into legislation to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday, including restricting student relocation scholarships to people studying in Australia and whose parental family home or usual place of residence is also in Australia.

This would mean students relocating from or studying overseas would no longer be eligible for the scholarship. 

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One new proposal put forward on Wednesday was doubling the maximum time somebody has to wait for Newstart, study, sickness or youth allowance if they have liquid assets