AUSTRALIA: Kevin Rudd vows to look after older Australians

BRISBANE, Australia (Courier Mail), March 8, 2008: PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has promised not to leave carers and pensioners in the lurch, despite reports the government may scrap $500 bonus payment to older Australians, reports David Crawshaw. The one-off payment was introduced by the Howard government to help over-65s - a core Coalition constituency - meet rising costs. Suggestions the $500 bonus payment could be scrapped followed an outcry a day earlier over revelations the government may be preparing to abolish the $1600 carer bonus. Labor has made no secret of the fact it intends to cut spending in the May Budget as part of its drive to bring down inflation. Visiting the Solomon Islands today, Mr Rudd would not rule out scrapping the seniors payment but stressed no decision had been made. "Right now, we are engaged in a budget process where everything is being debated in preparation for the upcoming budget," Mr Rudd said. "What I can say to carers and pensioners right across Australia (is) there is no way on God's earth that I intend to leave them in the lurch. "I will say to carers and pensioners across Australia that as a Labor government we are there to extend a helping hand to those in need, and not to push them to one side as if they are unimportant - they are not." A spokeswoman for Families and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said the $500 payments had not been built into the forward estimates and the Howard government had not made any provision in the budget to continue the payments. A seniors' lobby group called for the single-aged pension to be raised to help elderly people meet cost-of-living increases. "If, as a nation, we're heading into tough times, at the very least we need to ensure adequate safety nets for our most vulnerable," National Seniors chief executive Michael O'Neill said. Single age pensioners currently lived off $268 a week, he said, yet many of their expenses were the same as for couple households - such as rates, registration, insurance, fuel and maintenance. "National Seniors recommends increasing the single-age pension to two-thirds of the couple rate. It currently sits at 57 per cent of the couple rate," he said. Older Australians knew the $500 payment was "an election year one-off" from the Howard government, Mr O'Neill said. Opposition families and community services spokesman Tony Abbott condemned any move to scrap the payment. He said this year's budget surplus was predicted to be huge and it was only fair that the government gave something back. "This year, there's going to be an even bigger budget surplus - $20 billion - and yet the Rudd Government is not going to give carers' bonuses and now it's not going to give seniors' bonuses either," Mr Abbott said. "Kevin Rudd criticised John Howard as being mean and tricky, but as soon as he gets his hands on the levers of power he starts taking things away from the most vulnerable people in society." Greens leader Bob Brown said the Government should raise the age pension by $30 a week instead of delivering its planned $31 billion in tax cuts. "A single pensioner lives on $268 a week, or $13,936 a year. That is not enough to live on," Senator Brown said. "The Rudd Government should not scrap the $500 seniors' bonus payment until it has increased the aged pension by at least $30 a week." Article from: AAP © Queensland Newspapers.