The Abbott Government has been flirting with the idea of raising the national retirement age to 70 from its current benchmark of 67, meaning people will have to wait till later in life to access the aged pension. This on the eve of a budget in which the Government is imploring that Australia’s population must “do the heavy lifting” in order to ensure the country’s long term economic prosperity. Clive Palmer, mining magnate, noted dinosaur builder, and occasional striker of bullseyes, loves that idea. In fact, he loves it so much that he’s going to propose that it also applies to politicians as well.
Palmer met with Palmer United Party officials on Monday to discuss the bill, which he hopes to introduce to the House of Representatives as soon as possible.
The bill will propose that, should the retirement age for ordinary Australians be raised to 70, that the age at which Politicians can access their parliamentary superannuation be moved to align with that. Currently superannuation can be accessed by people at age 55, which will increase to 60 by 2024. So Palmer’s bill means that either ordinary Australians will be able to access their pension at age 55 or 60, or politicians will have to wait till they reach 70 in order to access their superannuation.
“As the Prime Minister said, it is important the whole community does the heavy lifting and when we look at super and the fact they’re now extending the pension age to 70 it really means people’s super is tied up.” “And what does that mean? One year before you die, one hour before you die, you’re able to access your super and your old age pension, so it’s only fair members of parliament should have the same conditions.“
Well. I… I mean, uh… That’s… Ah, screw it.
Bravo, Clive. Bravo.
Photo: William West via Getty Images.
via The Guardian.
