Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week, all around Australia, seniors are out and about making a contribution to their communities, creating networks to support others, combating social isolation, fundraising for important causes, caring for each other and their families, and many other altruistic activities. It is no different to any other week. However, this week in August we are celebrating National Seniors Week. National Seniors Week gives us an opportunity to acknowledge not only the contribution of seniors but also to consider the challenges they face.

Policies that affect seniors are broad and varied within the federal sphere. They are a group that is particularly affected by most federal government policies and decisions. Whilst there are obvious areas like aged care and the pension, seniors are also affected by health policies, industrial relations, carers, disabilities, veterans affairs, and of course, the cost of living. Policies affect seniors in ways they do not affect other groups in our society. There are many pitfalls within policies that directly target seniors of which many are not aware. Take, for instance, the superannuation guarantee age limit. Superannuation is in place to help people save for their retirement, yet currently the superannuation guarantee applies only to workers up until the age of 70. This means that if you continue working past the age of 70 your employer is no longer required to pay you superannuation. I believe that this current age limit unfairly discriminates against older workers and may cause them to question their continuing employment. The coalition has also recognised this and took a policy of abolishing this age limit to the last election.

It would be remiss of me not to comment on how the carbon tax will affect seniors. Self-funded retirees who do not hold a Commonwealth seniors card will not receive any of the government’s proposed compensation. That equates to 285,000 Australians who have saved to fund themselves in retirement and do not rely on the taxpayer who will now be significantly worse off. This is on top of the government already halving the maximum limit on concessional superannuation contributions, again providing a disincentive for seniors to actively work towards supporting themselves.

Additionally, working seniors earning a salary of about $70,000 will face an increase in their marginal tax rate of an extra 2.5c in the dollar as of 1 July next year and those earning just $25,000 a year, currently taxed at 15c in the dollar, will see this rise to 19c of every dollar. So for both these groups the incentive to earn extra income is again diminished. A single self-funded retiree who earns more than $50,000 immediately starts to be worse off under the carbon tax and a couple on $80,000 or more will receive no compensation at all.

I regularly receive feedback from my constituents that it is very difficult to access the information they need on issues such as those I have discussed. That is why I am pleased to be hosting the inaugural Ryan Seniors Forum next week to assist seniors in my electorate who are seeking information about issues affecting their lives.

Our seniors should be celebrated, not only in this special week, but every week, yet some of the Gillard government policies do not acknowledge the valuable contribution our seniors continue to make.