Labor’s robbing 7,034 Wide Bay pensioners to pay for foreign aid boost

13/5/2019

Labor’s robbing 7,034 Wide Bay pensioners to pay for foreign aid boost

Labor’s plan to increase the foreign aid budget comes at a cost to more than 7,000 Wide Bay pensioners, who are being robbed of franking credit refunds.

Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien said new Australian Taxation Office data shows 7,034 local seniors are among more than one million Australians who would be hit by Labor’s retiree tax. 
 
Around 910,000 individuals, members in 200,000 self-managed super funds and 1,800 super funds would have their incomes slashed.
 
Mr O’Brien said while Australia has an important part to play with helping neighbouring nations and regional security, Labor has failed to properly account for its costly promise to increase foreign aid – and it would be retirees and families who suffered as a result.
 
“Labor’s very expensive and ill-conceived plan would cost between $68 and $82 billion over the next 10 years,” Mr O’Brien said.
 
“Bill Shorten won’t answer just where this money is coming from – because he doesn’t want to admit it’s coming from the pockets of hard-working retirees who have saved and planned for their retirement.
 
“On average, it would cost older Australians about $2,200 every year, and people with self-managed super funds would lose around $12,000 or much more. Nobody in Wide Bay can afford that.”
 
Mr O’Brien said he was deeply concerned to hear from constituents in Wide Bay that they had calculated the figures and realised the proposed tax would force them to rely on the Age Pension instead of having a self-managed retirement.
 
“This tax will not only take from the retirees, it will ultimately take more from the public purse as well, because it means thousands more people will have to rely on a Government pension,” Mr O’Brien said.
 
‘These are people who worked hard all their lives and saved to invest in their future, banking on the returns they receive through franking credits.
 
“Their household budgets are worked out based on this income which is rightfully theirs. They aren’t out there buying luxury items, we’re talking about everyday people paying everyday expenses like medical bills, private health insurance, groceries, and rates.
 
“Now Bill Shorten is taking that away from them while he is increasing foreign aid.”
 
Mr O’Brien said Labor’s attack shifts the goalposts on older Australians who have been responsible with  finances – and on top of that a Shorten Labor Government would hit retirees with four new superannuation taxes totalling $34 billion.
 
“Even worse, Labor plans to hit families, businesses and the economy with new and increased taxes amounting to $387 billion. It’s the bill Australia can’t afford,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Labor can’t manage money, that’s why they end up coming after yours. And they don’t care about how it hurts ordinary people – they have told concerned seniors they could just ‘vote against us’.

“It’s advice our seniors should take and not vote Labor.”

ENDS