Abbott’s Pension Attacks Continue

First published in Logan Reporter on 10 April, 2015

With all the talk about the Abbott Government’s planned changes to the pension at the moment, I can understand why so many local people have raised their concerns with me.

More than 12,000 people in our community rely on the age pension to pay the bills and for day-to-day living expenses.

Many of them believed Mr Abbott when he promised ‘no changes to pensions’. Sadly, we know that the last budget dashed these hopes.

The Government tries to pretend there were no cuts to the pension, but their own budget papers show more than $3 billion taken out of pensioners’ pockets. This is an $80 a week cut to the pension over the next decade.

Now with the next budget less than a month away, the LNP is contemplating even more changes to the pension.

When Labor was in Government, we delivered historic pension increases, allowances to assist in the cost of living and reforms to boost the retirement savings of millions of Australians.

Labor created superannuation, and we are committed to improving the system. But Mr Abbott has made this harder as well with his cuts to the Low Income Super Contribution, the Superannuation Guarantee and the reintroduction of tax concessions for the wealthiest 20,000 people in the super system.

Everyone who has raised their concerns with me can rest assured I will continue to fight against the Abbott Government’s attacks on retirement incomes.

#local #pension