Dear Paul,

You asked - do I feel I am in the presence of greatness
when replying to Il Duce?

Well, he's as great as a man can be without morality.
(doesn't know the difference between good and bad
behaviour).

Dear Joe,

Thank You for the lovely compliment.

I agree that this forum is very valuable because we
get to meet so many incredible people. People from
all walks of life. Good-hearted people and so knowledgeable.
People like yourself, and so
many others too numerous to mention.

I've learned so much over the years. It's forced me to do
research on subjects that I would not normally have
been interested in. It has broadened my knowledge base.

Dear Individual,

Entire careers have been built out of anxiety and issues
surrounding achievement and adequacy.

individual you're not getting what Paul is saying.

The money you've paid in taxes didn't go towards YOUR pension. It went to pay the pensions of those already on the pension while you were still working.

The government doesn't have a special bank account* where they stored a portion of your tax contribution to pay back to you in the future if you yourself end up on the pension. Not a cent of the pension money you receive did you pay for in tax. In fact, it is even worse than that- not only did you not contribute a single cent of tax towards your pension, but the government actually takes on debt to pay a portion of it.

Paul is absolutely correct in saying that the age pension is a form of government welfare.

Also, regarding super payments. Yes, the employer does pay it, but they pay it as part of the deal of employing someone . Ie., it is part of the contract of employment (all-be-it a non-negotiable part) where the employee provides labour and in return for that labour the employer pays ways+super+other benefits. If you were to outlaw the payment of super tomorrow, all that would generally happen is that wages/salaries or other benefits increase to replace the forgone super. This is because the cost of labour is more or less set by supply and demand (except instances of non-free-market factors, for example: where some people get paid more than they are worth -worth in the economic sense- because of the minimum-wage requirements of the various industries.)

* actually I once read that many,many decades ago they did infact keep age pension money separate but I'm not confident in the veracity of this claim.

[PS: It's probably appropriate to point out that, that from the comments Paul1405 has made over time that him and I are on different sides on many/most topics. However, I'll be the first to admit that he does how the political/social/economic system works and is obviously quite well educated]

I am overwhelmed by your summary of me.
You have me pegged to 'T'.
I had no idea you were so "into me", that you have been thinking about me and studying me so much, you know me better than I know myself.
Suddenly a feeling of love and warmth come over me; so much so I felt myself tear-up, I did not know you cared so much.
Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think I can go on, so I must now go and come to terms with this new revelation.
This has come as such a shock, I'm sorry I didn't know you cared so much about me.

Hi thinkabit,

History of Aged Pensions in Australia.

1900 NSW, Qld & Vic introduce an aged pension 10/- ($1) week, means tested and paid from consolidated revenue.

1901 The Constitution gave the Commonwealth explicit power to legislate for provision of old age and invalid pensions.

1909 Following the Pensions Act 1908 First Commonwealth Aged Pensions paid to those aged 65 and over both means and charter tested. 10/- ($1) week. Paid from general revenue. Reduced to 60 for women in 1910.

1912 Means test revised, removing the family home as an asset.

1928 National Insurance bill introduced to parliament to replace Aged and Invalid Pensions, but lapsed 1929 with the defeat of the Bruce government.

1945 Chifley government introduced levy on personal income and payrolls to fund a National Welfare Fund with the view to forming a national superannuation to replace the Aged Pension. The fund had no direct link to pension and benefits, in practice a government accounting device until its abolition in 1985.

1973 Means test for pensioners 75 years of age and over abolished.

1975 Means test removed for persons aged 70 to 74 inclusive. Established than the Aged Pension be set to 25% of average weekly earnings, to be indexed annually.

1978 Fraser government introduces Aged Pension indexing only once a year in November, previously twice a year. Those 70 years and over the pension is again means tested, but no income test applied to those 70 and over.

1979 Government reverses decision and Aged Pension is again index twice a year.

1984 Assets test reintroduced to all Aged Pensions, family home excluded with some provisions.

cont

cont

1985 Assets and income test applied to all Aged Pension, including those aged 70 and over. Aged pension at 25% of average weekly earning, no longer set as a target, rather an aspiration.

1985 For both the Labor Party and the ACTU Nation Superannuation became the objective.

1989 The Government's 'Retirement Income Policy Statement' established a policy in Australia based on the "twin pillars" of the Age Pension and private superannuation, specifically rejecting the option of a National Superannuation Scheme.

1992 National superannuation contribution set at 3% of ordinary income introduced from 1st July that year.

1994 Pension age for eligible women to be raised to 65, in a phased process.

1997 Aged pension to be formally maintained at 25% of average eekly earnings.

1998 Age pension means test for retirement income streams revised. Pension Bonus scheme introduced. A person could accrue a pension bonus payment by deferring claiming the pension while still working.

2007 Aged pension assets test threshold raised, making up to 300,000 more Australians eligible for a full or part Aged Pension.

2009 pension supplements consolidated into one payment. Aged Pension benchmark revised to 27.7% singles 41.76% couples, of average weekly earnings. The Pension Bonus Scheme was abolished, replaced by a work bonus.

2017 The qualifying age for the Age Pension increases by six months every two years until it reaches 67 years of age on 1 January 2024.

Even though Australians were some of the earliest beneficiaries of Aged Pensions (first pain in 1900). The value of superannuation was seen as early as 1915 when the Federal governments Income Tax Assessment Act provided for tax deductibility of employer contributions made on behalf of employees, and for the exemption of superannuation fund earnings from taxation. In 1923 the Bruce conservative government established a Royal Commission to examine the possibility of having a comprehensive national insurance scheme for retirement, sickness or disability. A 1928 bill for that purpose was introduced into parliament, but a Labor government let the bill lapse in 1929, at the start of the Great Depression. In 1945 the Chifley Government hoped to establish National Superannuation through a National Welfare Fund. The long reign of conservative governments killed off any thought of a National Superannuation Scheme through the 1950's and 60's. The Whitlam Government had notions of national Superannuation in the early 1970's but nothing got off the ground. In 1983 the Hawke Labor Government expressed support for the principles of employee superannuation, but little else. Not until 1991 when Treasurer John Kerin announced that from 1 July 1992 , under a new system to be known as the Superannuation Guarantee (SG), employers would be required to make superannuation contributions on behalf of their employees, did National Superannuation become a reality. The fact is post war Conservative governments have little stomach for notions of universal superannuation for all workers, content to simply pay pensions through taxation and do little else.