Older Australians being asked to help pay for grand visions they may never see

Noone knows the importance of balancing a Budget better than a FiftyUp, and FiftyUps agree that Australia has been living beyond its means for long enough, according to our member surveys and forums.

The question with this Budget was always how to spread the pain fairly and older Australians are being asked to do much of the heavy lifting, even though they may never see the grand visions they’re ring asked to help fund.

Last night’s Federal Budget revealed a combination of measures that would hurt over-50s including:

• Cuts to pension indexation from 2017,
• the abolition of the $876.20 Seniors Supplement and cuts to the Seniors Health Care Card,
• An extra $7 per doctor visit and $5 per prescription,
• Petrol tax increases, and
• A possible reduction in the funding available to help get older Australians into work.

The measures will help fund billions of dollars of new roads and medical research, but these are visions that will not come to fruition for many years.

The FiftyUp Club welcomes the announcement of a $10,000 incentive for employers to hire over-50s. However if this $304 million measure is being used to camouflage the axing of the $760 million Mature Age Worker Tax Offset, then the FiftyUp Club is extremely concerned.

FiftyUp Club chairman John Mangos said FiftyUps had paid their dues:

“Our 80,000 members aged over 50 are prepared to do their bit but many of them feel they are being asked to do more than their fair share in this Budget.

“The one big win for over 50s in this budget was the incentive to keep older workers in the workforce. However there is real concern this may be a cut, dressed up as a spend.

“The Treasurer must explain whether the Government is spending more or less on helping older workers return to work.”

The FiftyUp Club is a consumer network with more than 80,000 people aged 50 and over. Chairman John Mangos is available for comment this week on the 2014 Federal Budget.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Jess Lindell, Jess@fiftyupclub.com.au, 0438 045 170