Well, we have finally after 18 months of stagnation, been informed of our Long Awaited Pension Increase. For those of you who may be in the "Better Off" end of the bracket, you now can "Live It Up". However, those of us in the "Less Better Off" end of the bracket, our life will travel along as normal, doing it tough. What a disgrace to our Nation and its Pensioner Community this KRudd/Macklin Government is. After having a Pensioner Review Commission by some well off Dr Jeff Harmer, who is of the belief that the Couples Pension Rate is adequate, they have the gall to offer the Single Pensioner a miserable $32.49 wk and Couples a miserly $10.14 ea wk. While they have procastrinated over this, the amount they now provide has already been whittled away by increased costs for Utilities, particurlarly Water in Victoria, Rising Food Costs, Rising Fuel Costs, Increased Rents. This provision has not and will not improve the dignified lifestyle of any Pensioners that I know. Those who now think they are better off, wait for a few months and have another look at your circumstances, you may well find you have to change your view.
Having had my say, please Pensioners, when we have a rally in the Cities to protest for "A Fair Go For Pensioners", get behind your leaders and support them. When we block off a Major City Intersection so that we can vent our frustration effectively, which is our Democratic Right, we are looking for hundreds of supporters. For those interested in supporting us in Melbourne, information can be provided via this Discussion Thread.
OK, now lets combine and enable us to voice a National Opinion that may have some impact.

Pure emotion and not much thought nasho 23.
No one would be more keen than me to support a living wage pension.
First for those who can not work, then those who can not live on what they have saved.
I support self interest, that is using superannuation savings life long to make the last day at work not one of fear.
But right now we can not afford it, yet, if we confront waste, if we help make super worth while again I will get the world I want.
But not for me, my last day will see me with no more than one years wages, not big wages, then your life is my future.
I will work the extra few months or years I am able to, but understand this country and the world has enough debt, too much debt you ask too much.

I'm affraid my sympathy goes to the 'self funded' retirees, not so much to those on a full pension.

The self funded worked hard and saved hard in the interests of securing their twilite years. Unfortunately, the governments of today see them as an easy target and as such they have been betrayed.

Now if you are one of the retirees on the 'full pension', then please ask yourself a few simple questions;
1. Did I save for my retirement, or, did I simply 'live the good life' and spend as I went.

2. Could I have been more prudent with my money and, if so, would I be in the situation I am today.

Now, once you have honestly answered these questions, then, and only then, can you determine whether or not you are being hard done by.

I know there are some genuine 'unfortunates' out there, but seriously, if you have spent the best part of your life on a 'wastefull mission' expecting that someone else will look after you, then stop complaining and be gratefull for what you are being given by others.

Spare a thought for those who have saved, only be be 'genuinely shafted'!

Well, i'm off for 10 days fishing in the 'top end'.

Now rechtub you must look beneath the surface.
In my case I contributed the maximum I was allowed for 22 years.
All that time I rared 10 kids.
5 of my siblings after dad died young.
Then 5 of my sisters, without help.
After mum died and the last kid left I faced a mountain of debt.
Paid every cent.
Took redundancy after 55, whistle blowers get no choice.
Put my super [ you can get it after 55] into buying my home for cash .
Rolled the rest over.
Am putting 20% into super now, plus the bosses 9%
Not John Howard, not Kevin Rudd but the world money crisis has taken every cent I put in over the last 2 years.
Not enough years of work exist for me to come close to breaking even.
I will work till I have no choice, love it in any case, but want you to know.
You must never blacken those less fortunate than you, until you understand them.

Nasho, I am sure that many would like to see a higher pension,
but it has to be balanced against everything else.

See the reality. Govt income from individual taxation is
around 122 billion $. 111$ billion of that is spent on
social security and welfare. Health takes another 51 billion,
education another 35 billion and so on.

So what is our problem? Simply too many pensioners in Australia,
when you add up old age, invalid, unemployed, unmarried mothers,
etc. I saw a statistic once which showed that there are as
many people receiving some kind of welfare as there are taxpayers.

So if you want a cushy retirement, you are going to have to
provide it for yourself, the Govt does not have the money to
do it. Have you ever thought of making a few extra bucks
on the side? Even a pensioner can go out and do a bit of
babysitting or similar, to make an extra $.

Many on the pension are also sitting on pretty valuable homes,
bought for a song 50 years ago, now prime real estate.

The Govt coffers are empty, that is the reality

Sorry people, as a pensioner, all these protestations of the financial hardships of the Gov' carry NO weight whatsoever, look at the incredible waste of money on themselves and their cronies, the millions poured into highly profitable private companies, coal, oil, etc, the hundreds of millions they allow the rich to avoid in taxation. The amount of money required to fund a decent pension now, and into the future, is piffling compared to what all that comes to!