The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) issued a call this week to the federal parliament to reject the plan to lower the indexation of pensions that would severely impact upon all pensioners, and instead focus on eligibility for the part-pension and reforming the unfair retirement incomes system, including superannuation tax concessions.
‘The decision to reduce the indexation of pensions in the last Budget came as a great surprise to most of us, especially to pensioners,’ said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.
‘It would effectively lead to people on pensions, including older people, sole parents, and people with disabilities, falling behind community living standards.
‘We know these groups are already struggling to get by on a daily basis and if this measure goes ahead, they would lose as much as $80 per week over the next ten years based on modelling by the National Commission of Audit.
‘This would be a massive cut to the income of some of the most vulnerable people in our community, who simply could not afford to absorb it.
‘The last thing we should be doing is reducing indexation of payments for pensioners down to the inadequate indexation which is still in place for people struggling to survive on allowances, including young people on Youth Allowance (just $30 a day) and unemployed people on Newstart (just $37 a day). Two thirds of people on Newstart and Youth Allowance have been on these payments for over a year.
‘We urge the government, opposition parties and crossbenchers to work together on alternative solutions to ensure the sustainability of retirement incomes system into the future. This must include reform to better target the Age Pension to those who need it and to superannuation tax concessions as part of the tax review.’
Dear Abbot What you want from us Pensioners, you tucked everything away, you made our life misery, answer me and to all Australian People, What’s happened to our Money, our taxes we paid over the years, and people who did not live long enough to 65.– who stole that money, you not me. Do you deserve your pay for work based on lies. Don’t say that you love AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE, you hate all of us. You hate me I hate you too. — Dear Abbot I hope one day somebody will kill you, to revenge all our pains you impose on us.
Morrison must act to stop all these leaners sending their undeserved pensions to off-shore tax havens. Let them eat coal!
This is about balancing the Fed budget. Hurting pensioners.. who, over their lifetimes, have paid taxes from hard work and have earned it, …to cover that debt, is ridiculous.
Whats not mentioned is where the Fed could get a lot more income for the budget without hurting anyone, is to make the biggest biz corporate leaners pay their fair share.
They pay lower taxes than anyone else, and in some cases also get “subsidies”, or tax payer income for free. They profit from the poorer. The poorest most people, pay the wealthiest few people, at tax time, while the budget gets less help than by taxing the wealthy.
Hey Fed govt..get your money where the most is… without hurting anyone..from taxes & no giveout subsidies for biggest biz. They can easy afford to pay something or more.
Scraping what little the pensioners have away from them is cruel, while giving it all to biggest biz instead, who laugh while taking that extra overseas with already huge profits, and out of Australian circulation causing a weaker economy. How dumb & cruel can Fed govt get?
The Fed govt needs to tax biggest biz, with no handouts, and leave pensioners alone. They could not be acting more stupid, really ridiculous. Do they really want to get the debt down? Or treat citizens as slaves to biggest biz?