Monday 12 October 2009

Today is the start of Anti-Poverty Week 2009 in Australia and still Rudd, Swan & Macklin haven't acted against September pension increase grab by the states


This week across Australia people and organisations are observing Anti-Poverty Week 2009 which has as its main aims:
  • Strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in Australia;
  • Encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems, including action by individuals, communities, organisations and governments.
Over 100,000 Australian single pensioners (National Seniors statement to Courier Mail) will begin this week still worried that the Rudd Government has yet to make any concrete move to protect their recent $30 per week pension increase from the greedy grasp of state governments and community housing companies.

According to 2007 FAHCSIA data the majority of the 714,156 Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients across Australia are single and don't own a home, so one would expect that these pensioners are significantly represented among single pensions who will lose 25% of the 2009 pension increase in late 2010.

DSP recipients are most heavily clustered in New South Wales which makes the Rees Government pension grab all the more distasteful - a fact these pensioners will possibly remember at the next election.

Etching from CAP Art Blog

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