[color=red] I advise every one who uses this website to write to or email Senator Macklin now, and inform her that telling us what we can do with our money is an abuse of our civil rights. It should be stopped now, disabled Australians are sick of being pushed around.

Thank you.

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..

If you are telling us that you have an independant income and that you are not eligible for a pension ...............as I understand it ..........and acordingly you can spend your independat income in any way that you think fit ............so whats the problem for you ............

No, I'm not claiming to have an independent income, I'm saying that the Government pension I receive is obligation free once I have met the criteria to qualify for it.

Are you suggesting the government should tell us how to spend it? Why not cut out cash altogether then and just issue food and rent coupons?

Think how long some of us would live without those nasty bad habits like drinking and smoking.

Ok then ........to qualify for a full pension of any type you must understand that there are rules relating to it ............you probably do understand and know the system full well ...........so ...........if you do please do not complain about them ............members here have said how they are gratefull and how that they are content and how that they live in an adequate way ..........I understand that we are all different however and if you are feeling the pinch there may be ways in which you can adjust your spending habits to those of your income



The pension is never enough ................

I'm sorry, we seem to be at a misunderstanding here. I'm not complaining about how much I receive, I live quite comfortably on it and save enough for regular trips away.

What I object to is 800 people being singled out of... what? 1.2 million? and told that they cannot spend their pensions on more than a certain number of overseas trips.

OK, should they have other undeclared income then investigate them and charge them if necessary, but, if they manage on the pension, and it's not hard, then leave them alone.

Interesting comments on the news article here.



http://www.couriermail.com.au/money/welfare-loophole-allows-disability-pensioners-to-go-on-permanent-vacation/comments-e6freqoo-1225846381856



The qualification for the pension is covered by law.... the Social Security Act, not "rules" made up by petty Centrelink bureaucrats.

[color=red] The qualification for the pension is covered by law.... the Social Security Act, not “rules” made up by petty Centrelink bureaucrats.

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Gee now I can see that you do have a problem ...........Centrelink staff administer the law .they certainly do not make it up to suit themselves ..........surely you must know this ..............Is this post a joke ..............I do not feel inclined to make any more comment ............good bye ........

I tend to be with you sceadugenga, we have just been screaming

blue murder because the British Government have in effect cut

pensions to retired Brits living in Australia. While they are at it, why

don't they refuse Gov't housing to pensioners & forbid their access

to Aldi etc. Pensioners only go there to save money.What is the

difference between a disability pensioner living in Thailand & a

retiree living in Thailand, or Greece? In spite of what clay is

pushing down your throat, what these people are doing, is quite

legal. In order for the Gov't to stop the practice, they have to change

either the Regs or the Acft.

Sure is one rule for recipients of the Age Pension as

opposed to the Politicians who receive a Pension with

no strings attached. Certainly married or not has no bearing

on the huge payout they receive and they can earn as much as they want/can

and so much younger than those rceiving the Age Pension. They do not

have to fill in a form if they are going overseas and in fact can do

anything they want with their big Pension.

.

Seniors cannot earn much. Pension less if two living and sharing

i.e. married. Must let Centrelink know most details of their life

nothing much sacred. An Age Pensioner has to leave his/her book

open for audit any time.

.

I do not choose or enjoy travelling as like a kid saying "are we there yet"

and "can we go home now".

I have not thought too much on whether a person on an age person should

be spending the money away from their Country most of the year or all

of the year, but maybe they should be allowed as it is their allowance

and we teach our children how to handle an allowance so maybe up to

the individual. I am not sure on this one.

I do not like the one rule for Seniors and another for Politicians at all.

.

Beautiful Monday and we have rain. How good is that for Vics.

All the best

Phyl.

As one who does travel overseas, I agree that this matter is an infringement on the rights of pensioners. We should be able to spend the money as we please. So many spend their money on drinking, smoking or gambling, so why should others not be able to "waste" theirs on overseas travel? I understand that for most, the prospect of travel to a foreign country might be of interest for only a brief holiday, but when you you have a strong network of family and friends, a more protracted stay is quite attractive. You can save money, enjoy an exotic location, avoid winter altogether (if you plan well) and get real enjoyment out of life.

I heartily agree with Phyl that our politicians put no restrictions on themselves with THEIR pensions, but look for every opportunity to cut back benefit (costs) for the rest of us.

Thank you innes, Phyl and kfchugo for your support. I'm sorry about my upsetting clay, I enjoy his comments on other subjects but we seem to have got off on the wrong foot here.



Basically I live in Adelaide where I still have family but I enjoy travelling in Asia and can live very cheaply while able to indulge my hobbies of photography, writing and just meeting new people.



What upset me (one of the things) about the Centrelink article was their claim that it's so cheap in Asia that we "live the high life" up there. Last year myself, and several acquaintances, were thoroughly investigated... audited, on the grounds that if we could afford to spend so much time overseas that we must have undeclared income. They can't have it both ways!



When I see some people my age in Australia it's like they have given up, they consider their lives are over and they are just waiting to die. We have to enjoy our lives to the maximum, we've worked for it, paid our taxes, in many cases fought for our country and helped our communities with voluntary work.

Don't give up because you're on the pension, we're Australians, not second class citizens!

Am I going senile or was there not another thread about this matter titled "Disability support pension" or words along those lines? I really HATE it when threads disappear with no explanation!!!!

Beats me Hugo ..............I have not looked but you are probably right ...............

[size=3][b]KFC if you go to the title page of Government/Centrelink and scroll down about 18 titles there is another thread on Disability Pensions[/b][/size]