Age Pension and Harmer Report which is not to be released til May
Oh well we have a lot of leaks about this report and some articles appearing in the papers.
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This is one I found interesting.
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[quote]Wealthy pensioners to lose out
February 27, 2009
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A MILLION pensioners stand to have their payments reduced to cover the cost of an increase to the pension paid to single people.
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The Federal Government will receive a report today from the senior public servant Jeff Harmer about the adequacy of the age pension. It is expected to say the system is poorly targeted because it pays too little to those most in need and too much to people with private income from superannuation or property.
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Senior officials from Treasury and the Department of Family and Community Services are believed to support tilting the balance in favour of poorer retirees by changing the taper rate, or the income threshold at which the age pension begins to decline.
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A change to the pension system would fit in with the Government's desire to clamp down on middle-class welfare.
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On January 1 it tightened eligibility for the baby bonus and family payments by introducing a $150,000 income test, a decision that affected 50,000 families.
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The Herald has learned significant savings could be made by lifting the taper rate from 40 cents to 50 cents, which means pensions would decline by 50 cents for each dollar earned over the qualifying threshold.
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This would take the rate back to the level of a decade ago, when it was reduced to appease pensioner lobby groups before the introduction of the GST.
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It would also reduce the stress on a budget already headed for significant deficit.
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About 1 million people, most of whom receive only a part pension, would be affected.
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They are likely to be comparatively wealthy and own their homes outright and have other sources of income.
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Welfare groups said they would support the change because it would mean the pension would be better targeted to help poorer people, those with caring responsibilities and those renting private accommodation.
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The director of the Welfare Rights Centre, Maree O'Halloran, said the system needed to be overhauled to make it equitable.
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"Unless the fundamental design of the system is considered it will be impossible to fairly address the adequacy of payments," Ms O'Halloran said.
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"A single person can get some of the pension and a range of other concessions when their income is about $770 a week. [b]Working families paying a mortgage and trying to get their kids through school would consider this amount a bit rich."[/b]
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The chief executive of National Seniors Australia, Michael O'Neill, said the first priority of the pension system needed to be "making sure the most vulnerable are looked after". "Any focus needs to be on them. As a consequence, the focus needs to be where the money is spent at the other end of the scale. In terms of the taper rate that might be one of the issues we have to deal with."
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[b]Although the Government has committed itself to increasing the pension in the budget in May it is also wary of condemning itself to years of high welfare bills due to the ageing population and the declining value of superannuation.[/b]
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[b]An increase of $30 a week for single pensions would cost the Government billions of dollars when it can least afford it.[/b]
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AA spokeswoman for the Minister for Family and Community Services, Jenny Macklin, said the Government remained [b]"committed to delivering long-term pension reform in the context of this year's budget"[/b].[/quote]
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http://www.smh.com.au/national/wealthy-pensioners-to-lose-out-20090226-8j99.html?page=-1
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Ok read that have you - well what do you think of it?
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There is the last stinger in the tail - Jenny Macklin says which means what? Reform of the assets for home ownership for one thing I suspect.
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Also we have that phrase - working families raising its ugly head again - Rudd speak - for you are too bloody old and useless so die you buggers - do you think?
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Forgetting of course that we all worked and paid our income taxes without any of the handouts that the younger ones who sneer at us expecting to get a bit better than a below poverty pittance whilst they think nothing of their welfare handouts of Tax Benefits and First Home Owners Grants and all the things not one of the Age Pensioners today got because they were not brought in when they were working to pay off a home and keep a family on a what most would consider to be a blooming low wage they wouldn't get out of bed for!
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Now we will not be able to access the Harmer report until after the May Budget so that means that we will have to put up with whatever is given and I suspect it will be a bitter pill for many and a bit of a kick in the teeth even for those singles who did struggle along with their spouses to pay off a home and some still are doing the same paying off a mortgage and during times when rates were up to 18% and we have all been through 3 Labor recessions and this is the fourth recession and again strangely enough under Labor.
Remember this:-
Found it when googling and hadn't heard that we were to wait til end of 2009!!!!!! Sleight of hand? slipped it in just after May Budget. This is spin doctoring - methinks so.
Pensioners will have to wait: Rudd
[b]May 16, 2008 - 4:02PM
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says any changes to the pension system may have to wait until the completion of a comprehensive review of Australia's tax system.
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The review is being undertaken by the Treasury Secretary, Dr Ken Henry, who will release a discussion paper by the end of July and provide a final report to government by the end of 2009.[/b]
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Speaking to reporters in Brisbane today, Mr Rudd said he understood it was difficult to make ends meet on the pension.
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"I understand full well that people on the age pension are finding it very difficult, that's why we need to have a complete, all-round look at this through the Henry commission of inquiry," Mr Rudd said.
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"It's very important to make sure we have a thorough, long-term response to the long-term challenges of retirement income policy and that means for pensioners, it means for carers** and it means for others."
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Ok now thing is that we were told that the pension review by Harmer was to be tabled at end of February 2009 - like last week - and that was announced earlier in the budget where we were told how lucky we were to get the bonus.*
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The review is finished and now we are being told will know all in May Budget and then I found this piece about Tax Review which is not due until December 2009
That bonus* coincidently was the one originally given on previous years by Liberal/National government and was already in for payment to us in the Budget estimates Rudd took over and kindly left in when there was a bit of a furore when leaked it was being taken out and why - mainly because of the carers.
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I am a swinging voter and will vote for whoever just like anyone else looks after me and mine. I certainly feel uneasy at the mixed messages coming out currently on age pensions. That's why started to look up all on this and it gets worse as it goes.