Here we go again! The Government has overdrawn and somebody has to pay,......the good old Pensioner is going to be the whipping post, least equipped to fight back!

The Brotherhood of St Lawrence`s director Tony Nicholson allegedly said "While many are struggling with daily living expenses, some people on the aged pension are actually doing quite well!"....How well are you doing, Mr Nicholson?

I wonder why this man has not had the tenacity to criticize the obscene salaries, incomes and bonuses enjoyed by a large percentage of private company CEO`s., or the lavish Superannuation pensions and payouts enjoyed by generations of retired or redundant Politicians and Public Servants, during the last few years, who have all contributed indirectly to the world greed syndrome that has created the current Global Financial meltdown!

I spent 21 years serving in the Australian Defence Forces, during which time my family had to live in housing that by today`s standard would not be fit for an animal shelter.
I had to chop firewood for hot water each morning and working many long hours invariably 7 days per week, spent many weeks away on detachment around the country ( with very little if any in the way of allowances ). There was no such thing as extra pay for extra hours,it was a working regime of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, each year for "Queen and Country"! During that 21 years Service, my wife and family very nearly starved on numerous occasions, whilst I was away on "exercises" and detachments!

Now as Old Age Pensioners we are living comfortably, eating 3 meals a day, paying our Bills, although living an austere lifestyle! We now finally own our own home, ( which we had to battle to get!) we never have sufficient funds left-over to go away on a holiday. We do NOT have a Credit Card, do not use Hire Purchase and pay for whatever we have to buy, after having scrimped and scrounged!

Mr Rudd and coharts, please leave us alone to enjoy our austere remaining few years.

Cuphandle,

I take it that you are one of the so-called frugal generation? If so, I understand your situation as my parents are much the same. They are in their 70s, worked hard all their lives, gave their kids the best possible upbringing, now live in the country and just make do on the dual-income pension, with a bit tucked away in the bank in case of emergency.

They rarely go away for holidays, do not smoke or drink, don't use credit cards and have hardly ever done much in the way of entertainment (gone to restaurants etc).

I take it you think Tony Nicholson's comment is a portent of things to come? From what I've seen in recent times, he's been a vocal advocate for less well-off Australians. If he made this comment then maybe he knows something's coming down the pipeline. (As an aside, I've noticed that in most Tonys I've met, they have a noticeable moral fibre deficiency, so maybe your criticism is valid.)

For the sake of decent older Australians who have honestly paid their way through life, I hope the Government cuts them some slack.

It will be disappointing if pensioners do not receive a long overdue payrise. I know many normally Liberal voting pensioners, veterans and self-funded retirees who helped to vote Howard out on this issue alone.

With the baby boomers all coming close to retirement (many not having the privilege of superannuation in their early worklife) it would be a brave government that denies what is a basic right to live with some dignity.

The Prime Minister has made noises that single age pensioners will receive a payrise but nothing more about couples or other pension recipients.

It looks like paid maternity leave may be delayed. This would make better sense as those who are working are not in the dire straits that pensioners are and PML at this time will only serve to burden the business community, particularly small business.

You know, maybe there is a link between todays life styles, you know, spend everything and leave nothing for the kids, and the pensioners and the fact that they are now being told, "sorry, you have to much money, so you will go without"

Remembering that these pensioners, the ones who have worked hard all their lives, saved every penny, made sure their kids have had the best of everything, even if it ment going without themselves, are the very background of this once great nation.

Is it little wonder we now have a wastefull society as it is obvious that if you piss everything against the wall there is always a 'back stop'.

But BE WARNED, this only applies if you fail and end up poor.

Maybe it's time I bought that boat or went on holidays because if I don't then I will be punished when I retire.

And to think I thought I was doing the right thing by assett building for the past decade.
Yet another classic joke

Any room for facts here?
Its the brotherhood who make the claim, not the government.
And the claim is that 14% who are in the top 25% as far as wealth is concerned still get part pensions?
That is wrong!
In my view a house, say up to half a million should be exempt.
If we can not pass on our homes then every generation has a tough time ahead.
I know this government is to increase pensions, I agree they should.
But for the needy not the greedy.
Rechtub you complain about over paid workers at every chance how can you justify the rich eating from the poor mans bowl?
If we stop unneeded welfare we can start paying more to those who must live on it.

Rechtub you complain about over paid workers at every chance how can you justify the rich eating from the poor mans bowl?

Belly, thses are the very people who provided the base for what we take for granted today.

You just don't get it do you. If you keep robbing the rich to feed the poor then the rich will simply stop providing. I.e the 58%ers.

So am person buys a house, on the beach for say $60,000 back in the mid 80,s. It is now worth 1.5 million. Why should they be punnished for the additional 1 millon?

Do you realise that some self funded retirees pay more today in rates and land tax than they paid for thier homes in the first place.

Do you consider this is fair?

Do you think that because they pay 1,000's per year in taxes, while being retired, that they should now be denied the pension?

I know one couple who pay $11,00 per year in rates and $11,000 per year in land tax. Why should they miss out just because of good planning?

Belly, you are more and more sounding like the typical under achiever, the one who wants everything for nothing and denies the tax payers of yesteryear thier rights to take back some of what they have contributed.

As for you leaving the family home comment, this is all but over. Most now borrow the max to fund a lifestyle for themselves. They will leave a debt to equity of more than 60%.

Gidday Fellow Cynics:

To add insult to injury, I heard yesterday that Kevin has donated $20 Million towards the rebuilding of Gaza, after the devastation caused by the Israeli recent "chastizement"!

I would strongly suggest that if anybody has to foot the bill for the Israeli incursion and destruction of Gaza, let it fall back on the perpetrators.....the Israelis and maybe the U.S.of A. who have helped to arm and indoctrinate the Israelis` in the fine arts of warfare and attempts at global domination!

Failing that, might I suggest that Kevin allocate ALL of our Pensions to the rebuilding of Gaza, which may, when we are all starving to death, then give us the excuse to start building home-made rockets and firing them into Parliament House?

When does all this insanity stop! We as a nation are fast approaching our own financial meltdown, yet we still keep getting involved in other people`s wars, following the warmongers blindly down the road to inevitable Armageddon and at the same time handing out millions of dollars to every cause ( just or unjust ) as though the whole country is TRULY paved with Gold!

There are billions of people in this world less fortunate than ourselves, but we cannot simply donate, donate, donate until the coffers are bare,....that is simply financial and racial suicide!

I myself donate to some charitable organizations, however they are local Australian ones that I consider a worthy cause, and even though I could use that money myself, I still feel that a small sacrifice can help prevent this country regressing to a similar situation that Zimbabwe now finds itself in!

Please Kevin,....consider the future of this country and it`s people, before we all end up like Zimbaweans! I think that you started off with the right idea, but inevitably like all Politicians you are now starting to blow it out of your rear end!

Australia has five Collins Class submarines. Only three are operational because they cannot staff the other two (which are "in reserve). Apparently, it takes a special class of human being to work on submarines. It wants to build another 12. Great stuff for job creation in the building stage, for a total of 14 submarines to sit in mothballs.

There are not too many pensioners I know who are living it up - it is a daily and weekly battle, although I guess there will be exceptions. If the government wants to save money and control population, it should axe the baby bonus.

It's even worse than that Penny, they can only crew 2 of the subs, & there are a couple of surface ships sitting crewless too.

I am getting used to hearing stupid things, whenever I see Rudd's mouth moving, but when he talked about enlarging the navy, it really floored me. All our sailors are in short supply, & therefore getting much more sea time than is healthy for family relationships, but with the submariners it's now ridicules. If you want to get divorced, join a sub crew.

Unless they can find some ways of keeping our navy sailors a lot happier than now, it won't be a matter of getting more subs, or ships, it will be a matter of which half dozen will be the best to keep.

Perhaps it requires something like our merchant marine, what's left of it, with 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off

NOTHING- no reply for four days.
Is this another thread silenced by fatual information rather than emotional attacks spurred on by personal beleifes.

MY PREVIOUS COMMENT
I know one couple who pay $11,00 per year in rates and $11,000 per year in land tax. Why should they miss out just because of good planning?
This is a typo, they pay $11,000 per years in rates as well.

Now this is a man who was a workaholic builder who built several houses in his life time. As a result they now own several houses which they rent out. They even rent one to people who have lost everything in the storm collapse, FOR NOTHING!

Now with each home they built they paid several taxes. Stamp duty on thier tools etc, tax on fuel, on the trucks, on thier office equipment, the list goes on.

They now pay so much in rates and land taxes that the rents they receive are used to cover these taxes.

So can anyone justify why they are not eligable to receive thier well earned pension, after all, they have paid more taxes and continue to pay more taxes than most.

It is about the only system I can think of that if you succeed, you loose. Why?

This generation has been betrayed. They were advised that some of thier taxes would fund thier retirement.

How are we going to convince generation Y to save and be succesful knowing full well that if they succeed they will be left to survive on thier own, knowing full well that the generation Y'ers that did not do as well will be provided for by the succesful ones contributions.

Where is the fairness and balance in this system?

To All:

Be thankful that you don`t live in the "Smart State" where "Kevin giveth and Anna taketh away"!

It appears that our "shifty" Treasurer and Premier have decided to increase Motor Vehicle Registration Fees by 20% from July!....this will then probably make Queensland the dearest state to drive a motor vehicle in!

We are hearing of just one of many imposts that are going to be applied to the community if and when they get re-elected to the trough!

We are led to believe that this is supposedly "the Party for The People"?......what a joke they present to the thinking element of the community! These clowns are starting to smell stronger than a crap-house door on a Prawn Trawler, and are twice as thick.

Anna Bligh is so confident of her popularity that she had to get Kevin and Wayne to come up here to wave the flag and try to distract the "disenchanted" voters from straying from the fold!.....Kevin might be popular, but that is one sure-fire way to lose popularity by acting as Ringmaster in the Bligh travelling circus of freaks!

Now they are giving Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen hassles by allowing Mining Exploration Leases in and around Joh`s gravesite on "Bethany"!....do these people have no conscience or moral principle at all