Single, living alone, no assets, on a full pension and in community housing? Rudd and Rees want to starve you out

It is rather difficult to find Housing Commission accommodation in regional New South Wales these days. I'm told that most subsidised housing in recent years has come online under community housing management so that state government can save a bit on the cost of regional bureaucracy.

I've had a few phone calls in the last couple of days about this community housing.
With pensions and other income assistance not really keeping up with the cost of living and little hope that Kevin Rudd's increased pension 'promise' will come to fruition as anything more than a token, it was a shock for many Northern Rivers community housing tenants already living in straightened circumstances to recently receive a version of the item below.

Community housing rents changed

The government rent policy determining how community housing rents are set has changed.

Community housing rents for new tenants have risen from July 1.

Most of this increase will be offset by an increase in the tenant’s entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA).

Existing tenants’ rents will increase following their next scheduled rent review.

The new rents will be calculated based on a combination of 25% of ‘assessable’ household income, 15% of Family Tax Benefit, and 100% of Commonwealth Rent Assistance Entitlements (as long as the new rent is not more than market rent).

The new rent will mean a net increase in housing costs (after taking the increase in CRA into account) for most current tenants.

This will be phased in over a number of years.

While the Federation welcomes the general approach to ensure stronger income streams which will allow associations to provide more housing opportunities for future tenants, we have expressed strong concerns to government about the impact on current tenants.

As far as I can tell, an average single pensioner living alone in community housing will be losing around $31 to $33 dollars minimum a fortnight due to this change in policy.
In practice this would mean at least an extra $23 to $25 dollars less on pension day as community housing already takes 25% of any Commonwealth rent assistance.
Even if the community housing company agrees to stagger this money grab to $20 per fortnight in the first year, this is twenty dollars more than most single pensioners (or for that matter the single unemployed without family) can afford.

NSW Premier Rees and Prime Minister Rudd should be ashamed of themselves - they have quite literally endorsed taking food out of the mouths of the elderly, widowed, disabled and carers.

It's a low dingo act, from two pollies who have forgotten what the Labor Party once stood for.

Both these men had better hope that their next respective election dates do not fall in the second week of the pension payment cycle - voters with empty bellies tend to feel a mite uncharitable when faced with a ballot paper stuffed with well-fed candidates.

Oh, and by the way Rudders, don't think that single pensioners in community housing haven't noticed that you are willing to back Aussie investors, as well as home-grown and foreign banks to the tune of around $600-708 billion while you've agreed to help Rees snatch the food out of the mouths of many of those who wouldn't have more than a dollar in the bank as 'savings'.

Rudd & Rees family pic came from Google Images

Update:

Link to list of Australian and foreign banks/financial institutions whose deposits and certain debts the Rudd Government has pledged to guarantee here.