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News$700k worth of savings tips from the government
$700k worth of savings tips from the government

$700k worth of savings tips from the government

Tags: Energy Information
Last updated by Someone on

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you would have noticed all the talk about energy prices. If you have been off the grid (pun intended), there’s no hiding from your energy bill, which will find you eventually. 

And so will the Federal Government’s latest $700,000 ad campaign!

Launched this month, the Powering Forward Campaign reportedly cost tax-payers $300,000 for 60 seconds of airtime during the AFL & NRL Grand Finals, and as much as $700,000 in fees to a Melbourne ad agency.

There's some useful information buried in there, but it's hidden behind propaganda pushing the government's energy policy credentials.

What do you think of the campaign?

Our take? The website contains some useful info for people wanting to save on power bills, for example it links to the Energy Made Easy comparison site and the Victorian Switchon site to compare offers.

It also contains energy efficiency tips for households, which can be handy.

But all that useful stuff is buried behind the silly “powering forward” slogan and some bumph about the Government’s Snowy Hydro 2.0 and gas reservation policies.

They’re important, but we’d like to see the moneysaving info up front and centre!

Here’s something else you can do to save.

A couple of months back, the Fiftyup Club started our Power-Up Campaign,  which now boasts a staggering 50,000 registrations nationally That tells us that you do want to do something about energy prices even if it’s just to send a message to power companies that enough is enough.

While Australia may rank second in the world for quality-of-life, we rate first in the world for the highest energy prices. Data from the Carbon + Energy Markets' MarkIntell service says we’re ahead of Germany, Denmark and Italy with 4 Australian states in the top ten (click here to see the list).

This despite Australia having every energy resource available in the world including coal, wind, solar, nuclear and sea-water hydro power.

What can you do? It’s as easy as picking up the phone, calling your energy retailer and asking for a better deal. Don’t take no for an answer. The energy market has never been so competitive and you can get results, with many members reporting savings in the hundreds of dollars.

Click here to see the latest Fiftyup Club energy offers, extended for a limited time only


 

 

Originally posted on .

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Barbara
Barbara from NSW commented:

Like Rosemarie from SA I too am disgusted with the gaps I have to pay because I have private Health Insurance. An excess for going into hospital rising health insurance fees ( I pay over $310.00 per month) and rising electricity bills as well as car and house Insurance. There are now only my husband and myself left at home but it costs us more and more every year 

John
John from NSW replied to Barbara:

Barbara , I do sympathise and agree with you. I feel that in Australia we have become a nation of gougers and rip off merchants. Too focused. On the shareholder at the expense of the customer. Loyalty, these days, is worth nothing. 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to John:

John: Spot on! Please read my reply to Barbara, it may be of assistance to you. 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to Barbara:

Barbara: This is the plight of just about every single one of us, in fact is disgusting! This is why I am trying to cover every single angle in my quest for better living, after all we work very hard all of our life to be faced with this kind of situation. I am a member of The Seniors Party (www.seniorsparty.org): We have this Club on one side and The Seniors Party in Canberra on the other side. I think it's a good combination. 

Sandy
Sandy from NSW commented:

I support the objectives, and hope—rather than expect—that they will be achieved. The larger the membership, the stronger will be the lobbying and buying power and the negotiating strength. I would hope to see target shooting with tight aims, not shot guns let off in random directions. 

Dawn
Dawn from QLD commented:

What about the banks giving us a fair deal, interest on some credit cards is still very high and needs to be addressed. When will the banks recognise loyal customers, who have paid more than their share over the years. With all their profits, do they need to charge account keeping fees & such high interest on credit cards etc. 

Rosemarie
Rosemarie from SA commented:

I bought a small new car as mine was 10.5 years old. Paide $980 in stamp duty. Insurance is round $720 after getting 3 other quotes all about $140-160 dearer Certainly I agree Health insurance should be cheaper, especially hate the Gaps, disgusting why pay insurance and then those huge gaps. Yes I agree with everyone, hoping this isn't another junk mail trap. Let's hope something good comes out of it. 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

car insurance should go down not up as you continue not to make any claims and the value of your vehicle goes down why is it cheaper to go overseas for a holiday than in Australia?amd why are greenslips so expensive? I could go on but lets see what happens - John from NSW 

Thomas
Thomas from NSW commented:

Weekends away discounted would be nice. Cheaper car insurance would be good, the longer you drive without an incident it should be rewarded not increased. I dont see why senior cards should not be available from 55 up. 

Catherine
Catherine from NSW commented:

I would like cheaper health insurance, we should not have to pay for maternity and anything we are not likely to use. 

Paul
Paul from QLD commented:

I agree with Debra, lets hope this the FiftyUp Club not just another funnel to my inbox for ads for funeral insurance, mobile phones and such. 

Debra
Debra from NSW replied to Paul:

Thank you Paul -- !! cheers Glad someone has experienced and understood where I was coming from . - I am confident, after reading some comment's from this forum that IS NOT going to be the case . 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to Debra:

Debra: Please read my reply to Paul, it may also be beneficial to you. 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to Paul:

Paul: I feel the same way. This is why I also joined The Seniors Party (www.seniorsparty.org). I feel by being a member of both we should be able to channel our needs through a couple of places only. 

Paul
Paul from QLD replied to Henry:

Hello Henry, I checked out the Seniors Party website today...a little dismayed, there is no information as to the size of the party, where the party members are located do they have any representation in any Australian electorate etc, etc. I sought answers on their forum but guests are not permitted to view it, one must register first, however registration failed after trying several times, a message simply stated that Iam unable to register at this time. 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to Paul:

Good morning, Paul: You are quite correct, you need to be a member to enter the comments area, but you can see all the rest. This was done to avoid people trying to sell stuff, fake passports plus the usual enlargement offers, etc. The Party has been going for about a year now. During this period they requested people to complete a Declaration of Intentions, simply to get to know what's been happening. The Party reached as list of 270 people. 2 months ago the Party requested those people to now complete a registration form according to the rulings of the AEC - only 65 did, so a change was made to encourage further membership: firstly, membership fees were wiped out for the first year (first day of registration starting), members are going to receive a Party card that hopefully will be used to get discount in various places, once the Party signs them in (similar to the Fiftyup club), only members will receive the monthly newsletter, the rest will have to read in on the website. Currently membership has increased to 86 due to various manoeuvres with regards to promotions. I would encourage you to read the Declaration of Intentions that was used as a base to write the Constitution. There are so many of us over 50 without a proper representation in Canberra. 

Paul
Paul from QLD replied to Henry:

Many thanks Henry. 

MARIANNE
MARIANNE from NSW commented:

ANONYMOUS FROM NSW HOPEFULLY THEY WILL OFFER ACCOMMODATION AND HOLIDAYS AT A CHEAPER RATE, AS WE ARE LESS LIKELY TO DAMAGE ANY PROPERTY. ALSO HOPEFULLY WE CAN RECEIVE CHEAPER MEDICATIONS FROM CHEMISTS, ON VITAL MEDICATIONS THAT ARE NEEDED. WE NEED TO WORK LONGER NOW, AND SO NEED TO LOOK AFTER OUR HEALTH. 

Henry
Henry from NSW replied to MARIANNE:

Marianne: The other day I rang a motel up north to enquire about discounts for over 50's. The lady that answer the phone told me all excited that YES they offer over 50's a discount : (wait for this!) TWO DOLLARS! , Yes, you heard right: a lousy 2 bucks! This is how they feel about us- the forgotten era I call it - this is why I am also a member of The Seniors Club (www.seniorsparty.org). With this I feel I am covering both ends of the spectrum. 

Richard
Richard from NSW commented:

discount those who have a good track record instead of us paying for the one that don't 

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