BAILLIEU'S MEAN-SPIRITIED CASH GRAB WILL HURT PENSIONERS

Friday, 27 January 2012

Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, today said the Baillieu Liberal Government’s move to take a share of the Australian Government’s historic pension rise and increase public housing rents would hurt local pensioners.

“The decision by the Baillieu Government means that 38,000 pensioners in Victoria living in public housing will now have more of their pension docked for public housing rents,” Ms King said.

“When we increased the pension in 2009, State and Territory governments agreed to quarantine this amount from rent calculations.

“These increases were for pensioners – not for Ted Baillieu.”

Since September 2009, the Australian Government’s historic pension reforms have delivered increases to the maximum pension of about $148 per fortnight for singles and $146 per fortnight for couples combined. 

Victorian public housing tenants began receiving notification this week telling them that their rent would increase, taken straight from their pension.

“This grubby cash-grab is typical of the mean-spirited Baillieu Government.

“It took a Federal Labor Government to deliver the biggest increase to the pension in its 100 year history, and it took Ted Baillieu a little more than a year to start ripping it away.

“This might not hurt people in Ted Baillieu’s electorate, but it will certainly hurt my local residents in public housing in the Ballarat region.

Ms King said the rent hike was a cynical move and showed how little the Coalition cared about people on low incomes.

“This is a Liberal Government which does not care about working families struggling to make ends meet.

“Ted Baillieu needs to get his hands out of the pockets of local pensioners.

“They may have turned their backs on the nearly 26,000 pensioners in the Ballarat Electorate but I’ll keep fighting for them and making sure they get a fair go.”

Media contact: Peter Dwyer (Ms King’s office) 0409.866.054