I do appreciate greatly, the Pharmacy rate for Prescriptions.

I do appreciate greatly, the transport Pensioner rates.

I do appreciate greatly, not having to pay Car Registration Fees

I do appreciate greatly, the Utilities Allowance.



I, Marlene born in Sydney 1941 began working in 1959 and completed my

employment in 1997. I was never on unemployment benefits, worked most diligently every

single day, until I had to retire on Disability Pension through contacting Rheumatic Fever at

the age of 21 even at that time having 9 months off work, never collected sickness benefits

from the Government.

Why I didn't commence employment until 1959, I was a sickly child and missed a lot of schooling,

hence having to repeat some classes. I eventually achieved my Intermediate Certificate much to

my surprise and worked doing office duties all my life. I didn't stop to have babies.

I consider I deserve a bigger payment than $273.00 per week, as I helped build this country

I began on very low wages, had to pay my mother most of my wages in rent, as she had 4 children

and paid to put all of us through college plus I paid my own Conservatorium fees.

TODAY 2008...........(1)

But, how else are we to survive at a standard that we were used to when we worked?

We weren't given the benefits to achieve a great retirement when we did retire..as they have today.

The best Superannuation deal came out in 1975 (I think)... but me paying rent in my

apartment, not being able to financially buy my own, nor give me enough to save

that much. Paying lots of medication etc.

TODAY 2008.....(2)

I live in a mobile home, which I purchased, I still have to pay $95 per week for site

fees. Thank you, yes I do get rent assistance.

I have a telephone bill, (and thankfully you help towards the bill and my broadband).

The hide to have Foxtel connected for my entertainment.

Green slip insurance. My Motor vehicle insurance. PLUS THE PRICE OF PETROL.

which visits to mother who lives in Petersham and other relatives are very limited

So outside entertainment is also limited. Including any entertainment at all.

My House and contents insurance

The huge Medicare difference I have to pay when I see my heart specialist,

astrologist, eye surgeon and I had to have an OTC test on my eyes

this week which cost $80 and no refund from Medicare.

I happen to own 3 stray cats, I feed God's birds that frequent

my place here at Leppington, and stray cats at the shopping centre.



SO I HAVE CREDIT CARDS TO GET ME OUT OF ALL THIS MESS...

Having to pay the minimum amount each month with huge interest fees

is a very sorry state indeed.

Oh yes, and where does the money come from to buy clothes???

mostly from the charity shops.

I am amazed that we who built this country, including my mother and father, are on these

limited dollars. I think it is disgusting. No I don't work in Parliament House anymore where the

staff were delivered their much reduced price luncheons on a silver platter by waiters in their white coats.

As a pensioner, we are now reduced to this squaller level to survive.

I wasn't one of the luckier ones that were left an inheritance and I am one of the majority.



Now what's this about bring in more Kiwi's?????????? our own can't get work so are they going

to be put on huge unemployment benefits, with free food, clothing and of course,

a beautiful new Dept of Housing Villa fully furnished with $2.20 water bill usage a fortnight,

plus repainted when necessary and new hot water systems replaced free, of course in the event

of it breaking down.

AND a rent of $50 per week???

I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED, THE ELDERLY ARE NOW ABUSED, TO BE FORGOTTEN ABOUT, NOT GIVEN THE BETTER DRUGS AND TO LIVE LIKE 3RD WORLD CITIZENS - DEFINITELY NOT THE STANDARD WE WERE BORN AND BRED TO BE IN THIS ONCE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. EVEN THE

MIGRANTS CAN SHARE 2 PENSIONS...... WOW...... THE MESSAGE HERE IS:

"THE GREY HAIR SET, KEEP YOUR PLACE AND SHUT UP'!

WELL TO THAT I SAY, 'THANK YOU KIND SIR'

AMEN.

[b]Marlene S[/b]



G'day from Nowra

Sorry to be a nark but I am fed up with concentration on single pensions!!!!!

We as a couple are just as badly off if not worse.

Single $273 PW Couple $228 each $4 less PW $90 per week combined less or $180.00 per two weeks

Pharm Allowance Single $2.90 PW Couple $1.45 PW

When it comes to Phone again the single amount is split between the couple utilities allow again it is split between two. they say 2 can live as cheaply as one it is pure rubbish.

A couple use twice as much food as one twice as much toilet paper twice as much of every thing yet we get less.

Couples have a higher amount to reach for Pharmaceuticals before getting free medicine.

The lump sum helps and should stay.

People in our situation in community housing lose 25% of our pension payments every time it rises they even take 25% of the rent assistance and they cannot get their grubby little fingers on it quickly enough.

It is time to give both sides of the story.



[b]Reg Newsome[/b]

Thank you for this information from so many members



They are indeed finding life very difficult...........

We are a married couple, at present my husband work 20 hours a week , so i dont get the full pension after working for 45 years . bringing 2 children up on my own before i remarried , with no government help,

i do volunteer work, so my way the government to help us all is to pay us for this service, there are lots of older people

who do this. SO WHAT IF WE SAID NO MORE VOLUNTEER WORK WHAT WOULD GOVERNMENT DO THEN.

PAM

WENTWORTH FALLS

I totally agree it is about time the government helped our Seniors - The Forgotten Generation.



Another thing we should all remember is that many community volunteers are Seniors.



A lot of noise is made about how grateful all levels of government are for all the efforts of our volunteers. How they cheerfully donate their knowledge and expertise and for the many man-hours they contribute to their communities which cannot ever be over-estimated or repaid. While volunteers offer their services as caring members of Australian society, it is donated freely.



Indeed without vounteers, most of the community groups which add so much to our daily lives would cease to exist.



Not to mention those who help raise money for hospitals and other charities, work in Opportunity Shops, drive the disabled and elderley to hospitals, appointments, do their shopping, just to mention a few ways the elderly contribute their labour and care. In fact some volunteers work longer hours than those in paid, full-time employment.



Can you imagine how much money our volunteers save the governments, at all levels, both federally and locally.



I wonder how they would cope if all that labour was withdrawn?



Emcee

Maybe you should wait until you have walked in our shoes before commenting on single pensioners.Ok I am fortunate to own my own home but it is in a rural area without public transport and since the death of my husband 18 months ago I was immediately cut back to single pension. The rates are still the same, the service charges for utilities are still the same, the phone is still the same, household insurances are still the same and when you make an insurance claim they say it is lack of maintaintance and won't pay.

Okay I can just manage to put food in my belly pay my bills and no longer care about material possessions. I have to maintain my drivers licence, car registration, insurance and RACV assist, there is no choice because of where I live. There is nothing left for social capital which is so important to elderly welfare.

I was studying for a university degree while my husband was on disability support from toxic poisening but when he turned 65 all educational assistance was cut. when he was transferred to aged pension I am now struggling to continue my studies to help people in rural areas cope but cannot get any assistance because educational allowance is not allowed for aged pensioners..So much for supplying support to rural areas. And pharmaceuticals are cut back to one. Check your facts before you start complaining - I have been there and know how much worse off I am now.

[size=4]I not being a pensioner would like to have my say.



I have been watching the pensioner story very close and was very touched by it, my mother is a pensioner living on her own and struggles, does without good food and meat to pay a bill.



When the Today Tonight show came on last night I thought it was fantastic what Australians are doing to help.

There are charities for everything in Australia and yet there seems to be nothing for pensioners.



It is nice to see Australians helping Australians for a change.



Last night after watching the program I joined the site which is running auctions and donating the full money to the pensioners in the way of vouchers, I went online and donated product for the site to auction and felt so proud of myself and so happy to be helping until I go to the forum on this site and see some people complaining about what we are all trying to do to help.



Maybe those people posting those comments dont need help but there are plenty of pensioners who are starving and really suffering.



Why not let us help them without belittling what the public is trying to do.

Im quite sure the register wont be publicy published for anyone to see.

Imagine someone being able to go the pictures because they dont have to spend their budget on food.



We know people are proud and have total respect for that but please dont spoil the gesture.

If that site can make 100 pensioners every 10 days a little happier I think it is a good thing.[/size]

Hmm... Interesting concept upset but do you have evidence of these vouchers actually getting to pensioners? I have not even heard of this initiative let alone had any vouchers - maybe it is just for metropolitan areas - or maybe my pride won't let me go asking for it. Then again as a scientist more familiar with verifiable research, I am always sceptical of what I see on Current Affairs programs.

Hope it works for your mother better than mine. Her's turned out to be dementia for which she was in denial and constantly informed all assessors that she still did everything for herself for fear of losing her independence. Only to discover she was no longer capable of any more than making a cup of tea to which she added long-life milk that was rancid because she thought you kept it in the cupboard after it was opened. That combined with eating out of date food which she had no concept of resulted in food poisoning!

Dementia or not, the older we get the more we protect our independence because that is our safeguard against going into care and what they don't realise is that it is in their best interest. Also it is much cheaper for the government to help keep them in their own homes than to put them in full-time care, so they readily believe what the older person is telling them.

As for volunteering, if you talk to most seniors you will find that many are involved because they need to feel usefut , they can't afford to donate with money so they donate in kind. I spent 12 years holding positions of office with Red Cross both unit and regional before nursing my husband to die at home with pancreatic cancer, then had my mother move in with me until she became aggressive and violent and had to go into secure care. So I have walked the walk and can talk the talk.

I don't ask for compensation for what I have done for love, just for some recognition for what I and many like me have contributed to our society in the form of a comparable pension.which I can live a reasonable life-style on.

Jemma

Hi Jemma



Yes they will get to recipients on the register as it is none done through a foundation where administration costs and so on are taken out of the funds rased.



For example the auctions where people are donating items to auction once they are sold the money goes into food vouchers nothing else and will be given to the people in need for a little extra to receive.

Just checked with the site and apparently already 58 people have been put on the list and it doesnt [color=brown]officialy start till the first on next month.[/color]



If one website can help 200 pensioners a month with a little extra it is a good thing

Jemma would love to see you on the list.

Please consider putting your name.

The list is private and not for public viewing .

Reading these messages has made me think. As a convener of a group for senior woman, I have to say I am aware many of these woman still do volunteer work for such organizations as Meals on Wheels, hospitals, and other places. All unpaid work. We did not receive baby bonuses or any of the many other benefits given to young mothers and families today. Senior have all brought up children who are now tax payers.We have paid taxes all our working lives. As seniors we are still paying GST from our pensions.The men have fought for their country whilst the woman served their country in many other ways. So why are seniors ignored after everything they have done?

Norma Jean

One of the changes in the recent budget that seems to have almost gone unheralded is the change in income eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. From July 2009, income from pension income streams will be taken into account.



I have no problems with the change itself - it's fair to withold the benefit from people earning large sums from allocated pensions and this should not have been allowed in the first place. However the income limit of $50000 has not changed since the card was introduced some years ago. Surely, in line with the approach the Government took with Medicare income limits for the surcharge, the same should occur with the CSHC and the income limit adjusted to $100000?



Edit: It goes without saying that I am a self funded retiree on an income that will no doubt by 2009 be a little in excess of the $50000 limit (subject, of course, to fund performance). And I am well aware that I am considerably better off than the average pensioner in this country.

For sure those Seniors on a pension are disgracefully treated and need to have their plight recognized, but those who are self- funded and have to pay top dollar for everything are not much better off. Security, worked for and saved so hard to provide, is now an illusion.

Many of today's retirees didn't have spare cash to put into superannuation funds during our working lives. I've forgotten what Child Endowment was, but it wasn't much! If we had anything spare it went into bank accounts with meagre interest and increasing fees,or life insurance policies, or paying off the family home (Not multi roomed mansions, fully furnished, either). As Seniors we may now have a bit of cash from a matured policy or the sale of a home but being retired, we cannot take advantage of the superannuation system. Too often we fall prey to dodgy investment schemes, or simply watch our capital become eaten up by taxes, fees and rising costs. Apart from "pensioners", Senior citizens of this country were totally ignored in the Federal Budget.

Maybe we should start by abolishing the term "Pensioner" and demand that we, the older generation should be called "Seniors" and that as Seniors we ALL have a just claim to a decent living standard. We should also remind this government of the massive contribution Seniors make today as Volunteers. At least give us meaningful credit for our voluntary work either to facilitate superannuation contributions or possibly to access to extra entitlements. The unpaid work of Seniors keeps many, many services afloat and it should be properly recognized. All of us, pensioners and self funded retirees alike deserve better than crumbs from Pollies trying to look kind hearted.

Every four years we vote to keep or change the power hungry in Camberra, Labour, Liberal, and the odds and sods. Every four years we just shuffle the pack and we get what we are dealt and the result is never good for seniors and the needy. Refugees are better off than we are in the money receiving stakes. All our anger is vented at the faces we see the images the media portray as the villains yet in reality they are the highly paid stooges that run our lives. A true ELECTION would be one that each time you changed the government you changed the beaurocrats with them. They are the evil power that have the templates of our existance just waiting for a face to put his/her name to it. Jenny Macklin for one. Before she was given the portfolio she would not have had a clue the position we were in and the easy way out was to dish out a repeat of the budget from Costello, a measly $500. I wrote to her, Wayne Swann and Mr Rudd explaining our needs. The reply from Macklin came in a letter and 4-5 weeks later the same letter came in the post as a brochure telling me of her intent. Just ask yourselves the questions

Is the health minister a real doctor, has the transport minister driven a vehile for a living. Does it look like the education minister is educated, there isnt anyone of us that couldnt do their job, because they are the puppets of the beaurocrats. They have the power and they cant be dismissed and they just hide in the backroom and rake in the dough. So we just keep moaning and hoping and waiting for the crumbs to fall from their table.