Welfare is a problem, there are bludgers everywhere and one of the biggest bludgers around is Indonesia, currently building a helicopter aircraft carrier which will undoubtedly be of use in the continuing Australian subsidized terrorism against the peoples of Occupied New Guinea.
Australian Tax Dollars at work.

We should be proud to tighten our belts so that the noose can be tightened on those ignorant natives who need the civilizing influence of Indonesian rule.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Liberal Federal MP, Kevin Andrews, voiced the same
beliefs as you and the Coalition, some time ago.
And these predictions
were seen to be by many experts, (and Factcheck),
unfounded.

Andrew Podger, Professor of Public Policy from the
Australian National University wrote in the
Australian Financial Review, "The claim that Australia's
welfare system is "unsustainable" would surprise observers
in most OECD nations which spend a much higher percentage
of their GDP on social security payments. Our emphasis on
flat-rate, means-tested payments rather than earnings-related
social insurance has limited the burden on Australia's
taxpayers."

"... Because we income test payments more than any other
country we have the most progressive distribution of
benefits in the OECD, and we also spend less than the
OECD average. It could be noted that the only element of the
social security system that will resemble the European
approach when it is introduced is the Government's
Paid Parental Scheme."

"We have challenges to face, but we are not heading the
same way as Europe!"

"There is nothing to indicate that as the population ages
Australia is heading toward the high welfare spending of
some European countries. Treasury projections to 2050 show
welfare spending as a proportion of GDP will remain steady
over the next 3 decades."

You are correct Foxy. This "pension crisis" is a fabricated, political construct (just like the budget "emergency" is a fabricated, political construct).

And many Australian voters are so incredibly dumb and pliable (as the politicians know) that they willingly and submissively fall for the lies.

By far ... by VERY VERY far indeed, the biggest welfare bludgers in Australia are corporations, businesses, the well off middle class and of course the upper class. And even with these bludgers ripping off government welfare, Australia's financial position is close to the *BEST IN THE WORLD*. Imagine how better off we'd be still, if these well off bludgers stopped rorting the system.

Dear Nhoj,

Hopefully the current Budget as it stands
will not pass in the Senate and the government
will be forced to make amendments that will be
fairer and more equitable because as it presently
stands high-income earners are only being asked
to pay higher taxes temporarily. Business is
being rewarded and the poorest and the sick are
being punished. Australia's wealthier get capital
gains tax exemptions and Supperannuation tax breaks.
This has got to change - if we're all in this
together, otherwise all we're seeing from the
government is their usual "long on rhetoric, short
on the really tough decisions!"

Foxy,

The quotes were not from Kevin Andrews but from the IMF.

"Unless the Senate passes the Coalition’s budget it will continue to rise. Real public spending is set to grow 16 per cent from 2012 to 2018, says the IMF, faster than 17 other rich countries, including France, the US, Sweden, and New Zealand. Without action Australia faces never-ending public deficits, even with healthy increases in tax revenue of 6 per cent a year.

Australia’s fiscal deterioration is all the more embarrassing in the midst of an unprecedented resources export boom and a historic surge in terms of trade that left households and governments awash with revenue.

Were GFC Mark II to unfurl itself — an ever-present danger given the state of the world’s banks and the as-yet-unknown impact of money printing in the US and Europe — Australia would be far less prepared than it was in 2008.

Sure, the level of federal government debt remains relatively low, but its growth has been world-beating and the outlook is grave thanks to Labor’s populist but unsustainable increases in school and disability spending, which the Coalition has inherited. The IMF, which has no political axe to grind, also noted Australia would have the third-largest increase in net debt as a share of GDP among the group of rich countries."

Dear Shadow Minister,

The following link may help clarify things for you:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-03/kevin-andrews-makes-unfounded-welfare-claims/5215798