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Pensioners lose dignity whilst expoliticians prosper in retirement by Frank Pearce 7 January 2014
I
retired at Xmas after 51 years of working from age 14 and am applying for the Age Pension. I always believed in my latter years I would at least be left with my dignity. However applying for the Age Pension certainly blew a hole in that theory. Besides those who are well off the rest of us will have to rely on the age pension just to survive. Currently the basic wage which is supposed to be the minimum amount required to just get by is $622.20 per week. The individual age pension for single people $413.60 per week.
Married couples get $623.40 PW which equates to $311.70 individually. Ask yourself as an individual how would you pay rent, have decent health care buy food, pay electricity and other utilities without a single luxury with this pittance. Older people including your parents, grandparents and great grandparents have built Australia into the lucky country. Why then when they are at their most vulnerable is their dignity taken away and they are forced to live day to day. Doesn’t happen to our long suffering Politicians does it. Kevin Rudd • $200,000 PA pension plus an estimated $300,000
PA office and travel costs. Julia Gillard • $200,000 PA pension plus estimated $300,000 PA office and travel costs. John Howard • $250,000 PA pension plus an estimated $300,000 PA office and travel costs. Paul Keating • $140,000 Office, travel and phone expenses plus pension. Bob Hawke • $130,000 Office, travel and phone expenses plus pension. Malcolm Fraser • $220,000 Office, travel and phone expenses plus
Frank Pearce says former PMs Bob Hawke and John Howard need a lifeline to extra money by accepting seats on corporate boards without penalty, whilst ordinary pensioners lose their benefits if they earn too much money. Image: news.com
pension. Gough Whitlam • $125,000 Office, travel and phone expenses plus pension. I also seriously doubt if any of these people are subject to the same horrendous asset test as us poor workers. As a pensioner we are only allowed to earn about $78 per week before they start taking about 50 cents in the dollar off our pension. However all these politicians can make a motza from sitting on boards and public speaking engagements which I doubt has an effect on their pensions? Doesn’t matter which party is in power this injustice is perpetuated by them all while at the same time at midnight sessions of Parliament they vote themselves huge pay rises while Age Pensioners live like citizens of 3rd world countries having to rely on handouts from family and others just to survive. Australia gives billions of dollars of aid to foreign countries and more billions to refugees. What about diverting some of this to at least give age pensioners the basic wage. Enough is enough its time to level the playing field. It’s time to lobby all politicians of all parties today.
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