Time to give the over 50's a voice in budget debates on tax, retirement and work

A much better idea would be to save money would be to to get rid of the "Parliamentary Pensions for Life" that the politians get when they retire or lose their seats and only pay them the same pension as the rest of the nation. 

Super has been changed too many times. Now they are looking at changing again????? I never received to following: 1. first home owners grant. 2. New baby bonus when I had my 2 children 3. Paid parental leave when I was pregnant 4. Family assistance. in my time it was about $20 per fortnight and called Child endowment. 5. I never received a stamp duty cut for buying my first home. I could not afford to buy a home until I was in my mid forties. I started salary sac. when John Howard brought in the limit (I think) was around $50,000 now I can only sal.sac $35,000 including the Employer contribution. If I could sal.sac more of my wages now I'm earning enough to do so I would be self funded in my retirement, and not a burden on the public purse. They are talking about the baby boomers and how to fund our retirement but they are restricting us from saving more into super to be self funded. Why is it that I've worked all my life (never receiving benefits of any kind even when I had my 2 children) and now I'm working to retire and enjoy what life I will have left (if any) and Governments keep assisting people that come into this country illegally, people who never have or ever want a job and the old aged and disabled are always disadvantaged. I have paid my taxes all my life and just want to be able to live a happy life in retirement without being a burden on the younger generation. There probably is many other issues that makes me angry but these are just a few. I am willing to pay more GST on what I want to buy because I have the control on my spending. Hit the top end of town with more investigation into how much they pay tax. I support the Liberal party but they have to be more informative and strong to get Australia out of the mess the labor party has left us in. 

Pull the Politicians benefits and pensions back like ours, the voters and maybe we could improve the bottom line on the Australian financial status. 

FiftyUp Club should have meetings and social gatherings for members so they will together pitch in ideas and share their experiences with the Law Makers and politicians. This will assist in better planning for the nation at large. A politician is in a better financial state to run for an election. I for a matter of fact could never become one as my finances do not permit. Over 50's is not old one is old when the senses start to cease normality. But no matter what state of health one is, there is a hurdle to jump with deep pitfalls unless loaded with money. Just a family home does not make a citizen rich but when we get sick or need a retirement placing it is not even enough in many cases. There are not even enough placements for the local citizens but must spend their time in the twilight years in solitude sometimes away from the one who shared all the life with. This is bad planning with our taxes and lack of knowledge of those who try to run our lives. The budget can be successfully executed, if many of the expenditures will be amended. When we raised our families they were our responsibility and we had no handouts. People must learn to live according to their earnings and not punish us older people. One can work for as long as they wish but then the younger generations must learn to plan to live according to their income. I have never had a holiday or cannot afford to socialize but I have no debts. Budget should apply not only for the government but for families and individuals too. The treasurer can plan and save allot of money by having more contact with us citizens and learn how we live to have a decent life which we deserve, with allot of heartache. A politician is not in a position to realize the way we live but need to empower him/herself with our situations which vary for individuals. Lets show how we can make it to the top again as Australia the land of the opportunities. 

The more restrictions on the lower income, pensioners and retirees the worse the economy becomes. These people form a large part of volunteers in the world. Health and Education are important in a prosperous country. Multinationals and high income need to contribute to health and education not for the Government to waste as it appears 

Pensioners should be allowed to top up their full pension to $45K - 50K income per annum indexed before reduction in pension income. Lower tax rates should apply to income above age 65 

It is a sorry state of us Australians that when we turn around the age of retirement we feel we are obsolete by time. I am appalled to see newcomers with luxury homes and cars and top jobs and we have it hard cuts off pensions and living in a sad state as our money is not enough to live on. Not everyone has a superannuation we never had and now I still work and my income which is very low is deducted from my pension. I rather work as I am a professional but there are many newcomers who are getting the jobs and we are not good enough for employment. The governments should listen to people who are living in real life situations as we widows have no acknowledgement in the government planning so the Law Makers should take note to organize community consultations with people who are doing it tough. We worked hard to educate our families and pay off a mortgage and after the Pension age we become like the ones who do not exist. I cannot afford to go on holidays or socialize let alone now I have to sell my car as 2002 car which is still in A one condition is being seen as too old to fix a small dent. So all the Insurances we paid for 45 years is for nothing and so is the Health Funds going up $19 in one hit is causing me to loose my membership. Politicians and Bankers should see to meet organize community consultations to meet the real people like us and perhaps they will realize the pinch in the nerves of those who worked hard to establish the best families to make this nation proud. I encourage those who are responsible to manage the taxes for the country to "Please re consider us doing it tough regardless were we live or how elegant we look." It is scary to approach the retirement age in this country of ours whom we love so dearly." 

I agree with Denise from NSW, the survey was very limited in the scope of responses available to us. It seems to me you were trying to evoke a certain response. Regardless of that, what I would like to see is the Aged Pension to be determined by the same mob that determine the Politicians salary and benefits. With regard to the current or previous governments being able to fix the current mess Good Luck, neither have the capacity to resolve the current fiscal issues as they will continue to favour the minorities with our money and in doing so and they have developed an insatiable need to get more of our money to continue to do what they have been doing poorly, I think it is very clear to some of us they are on the WRONG TRACK. The Australia Federal Government is probably the biggest business in Australia and yet we do not employ big business people to run it like it should be. Until we fix that problem don't expect to see any change in the direction this once great country is going. Thank you for your time. Regards Graham 

This Government is splashing money around by taking it from education and health. Why do we need to be engaged in other countries civil wars. One breath we are being told we have a monetary emergency the next they are finding money to cover something else. how about they show some leadership and look at their incomes and perks both in and out of Parliament. Leave those self funded over 70 as they are we are trying to not be a burden on taxpayers maybe look at those who retire cash in their Super then expect to be popped up by the taxpayer as they travel extensively 

Wal from NSW I agree with Allan from NSW re the way some questions are presented eg. should there be GST on fresh fruit and vegetables ,private school fees ,online purchases .(all lumped into one ) if you want people to participate in your survey present the questions with a little more thought .