Federal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, has joined Shadow Minister for Seniors Bronwyn Bishop, in condemning the Labor-Green Government’s carbon tax announcement which is set to punish senior Australians in Wannon including those still in the work force, self-funded retirees and pensioners.
Ms Bishop visited Wannon last month to hold a Seniors Forum, where discussions highlighted that the carbon tax will not only directly increase the cost of energy, but will also heavily impact a wide variety of goods senior Australians in Wannon purchase in their everyday lives, increasing the cost of living pressures that seniors are already facing.
“Now that we have seen the detail of the tax, it is clear pensioners and self-funded retirees in Wannon will see the rising cost of living as not only their electricity and gas bills rise, but also as their food, water, transport and health bills rise too. Even fuel prices will increase as a result of increased electricity costs and, ultimately, increased fuel transport costs,” Mr Tehan said.
“The Prime Minister misled people when she said six days before the election that there would be no carbon tax under a government she leads. How can pensioners and self funded retirees in Wannon trust Julia Gillard?” Mr Tehan asked.
Mr Tehan highlighted that working seniors and self-funded retirees in Wannon will be some of the worst affected. Not only will their cost of living rise but they will be taxed more for working harder or miss out on payments altogether.
Seniors earning $25,000 who currently face a marginal rate of 15c in the dollar will see this rise to 19c in the dollar. So for these seniors, the incentive to earn extra income is diminished.
Self-funded retirees who do not hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card will not receive any of the extra government payments. This means 285,000 Australians who have saved and sacrificed to fund themselves in retirement and do not rely on the taxpayer will be dramatically worse off.
Mr Tehan says that the Coalition, if elected to government, is committed to rescinding the Labor-Greens carbon tax.
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