How the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sees Australia's national pension scheme

 

It would appear that the Australian Government national old age pension scheme is managing to tread water when in comes to international comparison - predominately because its cash transfers are set roughly on par with the official poverty line adopted by this country and therefore on paper no-one is falling post-retirement into abject poverty.

However, with an ongoing acute shortage of affordable housing/ social housing stock, a large cohort of women bringing little or no superannuation into their retirement and successive federal governments which have failed to introduce and fully fund health and wellbeing support systems for Australian as they enter old age, the national age pension scheme appears to be failing a great many people.

OECD Pensions at a glance 2019, 27 November 2019:

OECD’s biennial report on the pension systems across OECD and G20 countries. Each edition opens with an overview comparing pension policies of OECD countries and recent reforms. This is followed by at least one thematic chapter and a range of indicators including pension projections for today’s workers.

The 2019 edition; reviews and analyses the pension measures legislated in OECD countries between September 2017 and September 2019. As in past editions, a comprehensive selection of pension policy indicators is included for all OECD and G20 countries. Moreover, this edition provides an in depth review of different approaches to organising pensions for non-standard workers…..

How does AUSTRALIA compare?

Key findings

 While contributing to superannuation funds is nearly universal among employees, only 27% of the self-employed made contributions in 2016-17.

 Full career self-employed workers will have a pension equivalent to 90% of that of full career employees despite not having made any pension contributions.

 Relative incomes of those aged over 65 to the total population are low at 72% compared to the average of 87%, while poverty rates for the elderly are very high in Australia at 23%, ten percentage points above the average. As Superannuation funds can be taken as a lump sum, this might skew these figures.

 Replacement rates in Australia are lower than the OECD average. The future net replacement rate for a full-career male (female) average-wage earner is 41% (37%) compared to 59% (58%) for the OECD. With the relatively high value of the Age Pension this improves to 76% (72%) or low earners compared to the average of 68% (68%).

 Five-year breaks in the career for childcare or unemployment lower future replacement rates by 12%, much higher than the OECD average of 4% and 6%, respectively…..

Excerpts from the 2019 document:

Employees are automatically enrolled in theSuperannuation system, although they are not compelled to make any contributions as the base scheme is entirely financed from employer contributions, whilst additional voluntary contributions can be made by employees. The self-employed are thus only covered by voluntary contributions and there is no requirement for them to contribute to the Superannuation scheme.

With near universal coverage of employees the Superannuation scheme has shown its effectiveness in providing a savings mechanism but with no compulsion for the self-employed to enrol their participation rate is much lower, at only 27% in 2016-17.

As a result, the self-employed tend to be solely reliant on the Age Pension, giving them a lower replacement rate at retirement compared to employees……

The average income of current retirees is only 72% of the population figure for the over 65s. There is also considerable variation by age with the 66-75 years age group at 78% compared to only 64% for those aged 76 and over. This age profile partly reflects the building-up of the impact of the Superannuation system, which was only introduced in 1992: those aged over 75 today would have had only limited opportunities to contribute….

Australia is ageing more slowly than the OECD average. Given the relatively limited involvement of the government in pensions and the slower ageing process, there is less of an issue of public finance pressure than in many other OECD countries. Public expenditure on pensions is projected to remain well below half of that of the OECD average. The Superannuation system being defined contribution is not subject to financial sustainability issues and as it will reach full maturity fewer individuals will be reliant on the Age Pension safety-net.

Future net replacement rates for average-wage earners in Australia are low at 41% compared to 59% for the OECD on average. The situation is however much better for lower earners with a net replacement rate of 76%, compared to 68% on average for the OECD, as the Age Pension provides an effective safety net for this group. However, individuals who are taking the  Superannuation component as a lump sum are then able to spend it as they wish. Once the funds start to deplete they can also then become eligible for at least a partial payment from the Age Pension….

In Australia, the impact on pension entitlement of interrupted careers is mixed depending on the absence period. There are no credits for either unemployment or childcare absence within the Superannuation system, unlike most other OECD countries, where in addition childcare absences usually have a lower impact on future pension entitlements than unemployment. For five years out of the labour market the pension entitlement in Australia for an average-wage earner is reduced by 12% compared to 6% on average in the OECD for unemployment and only 4% for childcare.….

The projected working-age population (20-64) will decrease by 10% in the OECD on average by 2060, i.e. by 0.26% per year. It will fall by….. more than 20% in Australia….

Mandatory pension contribution rates differ widely among OECD countries….Contribution rates are the lowest, below 10%, in Australia, Canada, Korea, Lithuania and Mexico.

Recent Pension Reforms

JULY 2018

From July 2018, members with total superannuation balances below AUD 500,000 are allowed to carry forward unused concessional (before tax) contribution-limit amounts for up to 5 years. From July 2019, members can access the unused contribution.

JULY 2019

Superannuation funds have to cancel supplemental life and disability insurance coverage for accounts with 16 consecutive months of inactivity unless participants actively choose to maintain the coverage.

The law caps the total annual administrative fees superannuation funds can charge accounts with balances below AUD 6,000 at 3% of the year-end balance. (Previously, there was no fee cap.) The law also prohibits superannuation funds from charging exit fees when accounts with any balance amount are transferred to other providers.

From July 2019, the Pension Loans Scheme (a voluntary, reverse mortgage type loan providing a fortnightly income stream) was expanded to all Australians who reached the normal retirement age with securable real estate/assets owned in Australia. The maximum fortnightly payment (pension plus loan) also increased from 100% to 150% of the fortnightly maximum rate of pension.

Superannuation funds have to transfer accounts with balances below AUD 6,000 to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) after 16 consecutive months of inactivity. Within 28 days of receiving an inactive account, ATO will combine it with an active account belonging to the same participant if such an account exists and the combined balance would be at least AUD 6,000. If the account cannot be combined, ATO will continue to hold it until it can be combined or issue a lump-sum payment to the participant if he or she is aged 65 or older or the account balance is less than AUD 200.

Not content with last year's omnibus bill, Turnbull unleashed his inner b@stard on the poor again in 2017

Pick a paragraph, almost any paragraph - if you are from a working class family someone you care about is likely to find themselves affected.

The First Omnibus Bill……

Turnbull Government, Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 as passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate on 15 September 2016, assented to 16 September 2016:

Summary

Amends:

the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to establish a minimum repayment threshold for HELP debts of two per cent when a person’s income reaches $51 957 from the 2018-19 financial year; and replace the Higher Education Grants Index with the consumer price index for the purposes of indexing all grants and regulated student contribution amounts; the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to discontinue the HECS-HELP benefit from 1 July 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, Farm Household Support Act 2014 and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to discontinue the job commitment bonus;

the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011 to reduce the agency’s available appropriation;

the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 to pause the income thresholds for the Medicare levy surcharge and the government rebate on private health insurance for a further three years from 1 July 2018;

the National Health Reform Act 2011 to abolish the National Health Performance Authority; the Aged Care Act 1997 to: increase the secretary’s compliance powers in relation to reviews of care recipient appraisals submitted by aged care providers to receive Commonwealth subsidies;

abolish adviser and administrator panel arrangements; and require approved providers to notify the secretary of certain changes to any key personnel in certain circumstances;

the Age Discrimination Act 2004, Dental Benefits Act 2008 and Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973 to close the Child Dental Benefits Schedule from 31 December 2016 and establish the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme from 1 January 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security Legislation Amendment (Newly Arrived Resident’s Waiting Periods and Other Measures) Act 1997 and Farm Household Support Act 2014 to remove the exemption from the 104 week newly arrived resident’s waiting period for new migrants who are family members of Australian citizens or long-term permanent residents;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 and Student Assistance Act 1973 to cease the student start-up scholarship payment from 1 July 2017;

five Acts to apply an interest charge to outstanding debts owed by former recipients of social welfare payments who have failed to enter into, or have not complied with, an acceptable repayment arrangement;

five Acts to enable the making of departure prohibition orders to prevent certain social welfare debtors from leaving the country;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999, Paid Parental Leave Act 2010, Social Security Act 1991 and Student Assistance Act 1973 to remove the six-year limit on welfare debt recovery; the Social Security Act 1991 and Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 to provide that parental leave payments and dad and partner pay payments are included in the income test for income support payments;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999, Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and Social Security Act 1991 to change the way fringe benefits are treated under the income tests for family assistance and youth income support payments and for related purposes; the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to align carer allowance and carer payment start day provisions;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 and Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 to pause indexation for family tax benefit (FTB) Part A, the primary earner income limit for FTB Part B and the Paid Parental Leave income limit for a further three years from 1 July 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991 and Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 to remove the pension income and assets test exemptions currently available to pensioners in aged care who rent out their former home and pay their aged care accommodation costs by periodic payments;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 and Social Security Act 1991 to remove the exemption from the income test for FTB Part A recipients and the exemption from the parental income test for certain dependent young people receiving youth allowance and ABSTUDY living allowance;

the Social Security Act 1991 to provide that certain persons cannot be paid social security payments when they are in psychiatric confinement because they have been charged with a serious offence;

six Acts to prevent new recipients of welfare payments or concession cards from being paid the energy supplement from 20 March 2017;

the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to reduce the refundable and non-refundable rates of the tax offset available under the research and development tax incentive for the first $100 million of eligible expenditure;

six Acts to require larger entities to provide payroll and superannuation information at the time it is created through the single touch payroll reporting framework; and

the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to create a single appeal path for the review of original determinations made by the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.

The Second Omnibus Bill……

Turnbull Government, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Omnibus Savings and Child Care Reform) Bill 2017, presented in the House of Representatives, 8 February 2017:

A Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to family assistance, social security, paid parental leave, veterans’ entitlements, military rehabilitation and compensation and farm household support, and for related purposes

Explanatory Memorandum, excerpt:

This bill contains the following Schedules:

1. Payment rates

The family tax benefit Part A standard fortnightly rate will be increased by $20.02 for each FTB child in the family aged up to 19. An equivalent rate increase, of around $19.37 per fortnight, will apply to youth allowance and disability support pension recipients aged under 18 and living at home. These increases will apply from 1 July 2018.

2. Family tax benefits Part B rate

From 1 July 2017, the Bill will introduce a reform to family tax benefit Part B that removes entitlement to FTB Part B for single parent families who are not single parents aged 60 or more or grandparents or great-grandparents, from 1 January of the calendar year their youngest child turns 17.

3. Family tax benefit supplements

This Schedule will phase out the family tax benefit Part A supplement for families with an adjusted taxable income of $80,000 a year or less by reducing it to $602.25 a year from 1 July 2016, and to $302.95 a year from 1 July 2017. It will then be withdrawn from 1 July 2018. The family tax benefit Part A supplement has already been withdrawn for families with an adjusted taxable income over $80,000 a year under the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Act 2016. The family tax benefit Part B supplement will also be phased out. It will be reduced to $302.95 a year from 1 July 2016, and to $153.30 a year from 1 July 2017. It will then be withdrawn from 1 July 2018.

4. Jobs for Families Child Care Package

The purpose of Schedule 4 is to introduce key aspects of the Jobs for Families Child Care Package, as announced in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 Budget. The Schedule will, through the introduction of a new Child Care Subsidy and other enhancements, deliver a simpler, more affordable, more flexible and more accessible child care system for families.

5. Proportional payments of pensions outside Australia

This Schedule reduces from 26 weeks to six weeks the period during which age pension, and a small number of other payments with unlimited portability, can be paid outside Australia at the basic means-tested rate. 4 After six weeks, payment will be adjusted according to the length of the pensioner’s Australian working life residence.

6. Pensioner education supplement

This Schedule ceases pensioner education supplement from the first 1 January or 1 July after the day the Act receives Royal Assent.

7. Education entry payment

This measure ceases the education entry payment from the first 1 January or 1 July after the Act receives Royal Assent.

8. Indexation

This Schedule implements the following changes to Australian Government payments:

· maintain at level for three years from 1 July of the first financial year beginning on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent the income free areas for all working age allowances (other than student payments) and for parenting payment single; and

· maintain at level for three years from 1 January of the first calendar year beginning on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent the income free areas and other means test thresholds for student payments, including the student income bank limits.

9. Close the energy supplement to new welfare recipients

This Schedule ceases, from 20 September 2017, payment of the energy supplement to recipients who were not receiving a welfare payment on 19 September 2016 and closes the energy supplement to new welfare recipients from 20 September 2017.

10.Stopping the payment of pension supplement after six weeks overseas

This Schedule will stop the payment of pension supplement after six weeks temporary absence overseas and immediately for permanent departures.

11.Automation of income stream review processes

This Schedule will allow for the automation of the regular income stream review process by enabling the Secretary to require income stream providers to transfer a dataset to the Department of Human Services (DHS) on a regular basis. 5

12.Seasonal horticultural work income exemption

Schedule 12 to the Bill provides a social security income test incentive aimed at increasing the number of job seekers who undertake specified seasonal horticultural work, such as fruit picking.

13.Ordinary waiting periods

This Schedule makes amendments to extend and simplify the ordinary waiting period for working age payments.

14.Age requirements for various Commonwealth payments

This Schedule provides that young unemployed people aged 22 to 24 would no longer be eligible for newstart allowance or sickness allowance until they turn 25 years of age and would, instead, be able to claim and qualify for youth allowance. To enable this, youth allowance for all types of people who can satisfy the activity test, will be available to people who have not yet reached 25.

15.Income support waiting periods

This Schedule introduces a four-week waiting period, for job ready young people who are looking for work, to receive income support payments. During this fourweek period, job seekers under 25 years of age who have been classified as job ready (Stream A) by the Job Seeker Classification Instrument will also be required to complete assigned activities, through a new program, RapidConnect Plus, that will help them prepare for and find work.

16.Other waiting period amendments (Rapid Activation of young job seekers)

This Schedule implements the Rapid Activation of young job seekers 2015-16 Budget measure.

17.Adjustments for Primary Carer Pay

This and the following Schedule introduce the revised arrangements for the Paid Parental Leave scheme announced in the 2015-16 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook and previously introduced in the Fairer Paid Parental Leave Bill 2016, which will now be withdrawn. The measure is changed in that the maximum PPL period for which a person may be paid parental leave pay is increased from the current 18 weeks to 20 weeks. The measure will commence on the first 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October that is 9 months after the date the Act receives royal assent, with an earliest commencement date of 1 January 2018.

18.Employer Opt-In (PPL) Schedule

18 removes the employer paymaster role in administering the Paid Parental Leave scheme.

Australian Financial Review graphic, 9 February 2017:

A Plea to see reason……

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), media release, 8 February 2017:

ACOSS urges Parliament to reject latest attempt to cut incomes of poorest in new Omnibus Bill

ACOSS today urged the Federal Parliament to stand firm against measures in the new Government Omnibus Bill that will cut the incomes of some of the poorest people, including families, to fund child care reforms.

“This is the latest attempt by the Government to push through harsh cuts that will rip $7 billion from the social security budget. It includes previously rejected ‘zombie’ measures, such as the five-week wait for unemployment payments, further cuts to family payments, and abolition of the energy supplement, which will slash the incomes of two million future recipients of income support,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.

“The so-called concessions the Government has made will be wiped out by other changes in the Bill, leaving many low-income people worse off.

“Of course we all want greater support for families to get better quality childcare but it cannot be funded on the backs of some of the most disadvantaged people in our country.

“This is not the way to build a strong community – caring for each other through all stages of our lives has served our nation well. This new bill risks weakening our social fabric.

“The increase to the Family Tax Benefit Part A for families with children by $10 a week does not make up for cuts to the supplements. A sole parent with two children aged 13 and 15 will still lose between $14 and $20 per week, or around $1,000 a year.

“Although this is less of a hit than under the previous proposal, it will still severely impact single parents, most of whom are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and feed their children as well as provide for them in the new school year.

“We are concerned the new Bill also includes unfair measures previously and repeatedly rejected by Federal Parliament and the broader community, such as making young people who become unemployed wait five weeks to receive income support.  This measure will not create jobs and merely punishes people who lose one.

“Abolishing the energy supplement will cut between $4-$7 a week from people on the lowest incomes, including pensioners, students, families, and people locked out of paid work.

“We have been consistent in our opposition to any watering down of paid parental leave and oppose any weakening of the current system, which currently ranks second to last in the OECD.

“This zombie Bill would only serve to increase poverty and inequality in Australia and Parliament must reject it,” Dr Goldie said.

More information on ‘zombie’ measures:

http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Quick-guide-to-zombie-bills.pdf

Wondering why there are no horror stories flowing from the financial reassessment of Centrelink pension eligibility?

There are many legitimate complaints and concerns being voiced over the Turnbull Government decision to change Centrelink’s debt recovery system to one which is fully automated, with no human oversight of initial debts raised for those certain individuals receiving welfare pensions, benefits and allowances.

However, there is little being said about the reassessment of asset and income limits for aged pension eligibility which came into effect on 1 January 2017.

Centrelink states:

If you have reached age pension age, Age Pension may help to support you. To qualify, you must first satisfy age and residence requirements. How much you can get depends on your income, assets and other circumstances.

If you are a self-funded retiree or still working, you may be able to get a part pension.

Centrelink further states that the current maximum basic age pension rate is $1,203.00 for a couple and $797.90 for a single person per fortnight.

This basic rate places any recipient who relies solely on a Centrelink pension for their retirement income firmly below the poverty line.

For those receiving additional income there is a reduction in this fortnightly basic rate of 50c for every dollar of additional income above $292 per fortnight for a couple and $164 for a single person. Income is defined by Centrelink as: an amount you earn, derive or receive for your own use or benefit profits, the amount of earnings in excess of expenses, whether of a capital nature or not, and a periodic payment or benefit you receive as a gift or allowance.

Financial assets are subject to deeming rates. For a couple the first $81,600 in assets is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25% and, for a single person the first $49,200 is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25%.

Commencing on 1 January 2017 home-owning Aged/Veteran/Disability pension recipients who have assets of over $375,000 for a couple and over $250,000 for singles now have their part pensions reduced by $3 for every $1,000 dollars over this limit. Non-homeowners who have assets of over $575,000 for a couple and over $450,000 for singles will experience a similar reduction.

Every person who is on a part pension after 1 January will retain their Pensioner Concession Card which allows for Medicare bulk billing and subsidised prescription medicine. Those who have their part-pension cancelled will receive a Low Income Health Care Card and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if of retirement age which allow for the same benefits.

These higher asset limits will possibly make an additional 50,000 retirees eligible for a part-pension for the first time and another est. 116,000-156,000 will receive an increase in their part-pension.

But what does that mean in practical terms?

Well it mean that a home-owning couple will lose their part aged pension if they have assets above $816,000 and home-owning singles will lose the part pension if assets are above $542,500. While the assets limit for non-homeowners is $1,016,000 for a couple and $742,500 for a single person.

What the new rules also mean for example*:

*a home-owning part pension couple with $380,000 in assets then your part pension will be est. $1,307.40 combined per fortnight;

 *a home-owning part pension couple with $500,000 in assets then your part-pension will be est. $947.40 combined per fortnight;

*with $600,000 in assets a home-owning couple would receive a part-pension of est. $647.40 per fortnight and with $700,000 in assets the couple would receive a part-pension of est. $347.40 every two weeks; and

*by the time a home-owning part pension couple reaches $800,000 in assets their combined part pension is an est. $74 per fortnight. At which point the couple's additional retirement income is deemed to have reached est. $980 per fortnight based on those assets.

* All examples are maximum amounts before any tapering for additional income over $292 per fortnight is deducted.

  

So how many people will be heavily impacted by these changes?

Estimates vary, but ABC News stated on 11 November 2016 that:

The increase in the rate that the pension is reduced, as well as the reduction in this top pension threshold, could result in some 88,000 missing out on the pension entirely, and some 225,000 seeing their pensions reduced.

So is the change to age pension eligibility fair?

Well it depends where you are placed on the wealth ladder and whether or not you deliberately structured your retirement funds to: a) act as a form of estate planning to benefit your heirs and/or b) minimised returns on retirement investments in order to qualify for a part-pension before 2017.

Estimates based on the Dept. Human Services calculations show that poorer retirees and part-pensioners will be better off.

However, those who thought they were being rather ‘clever’ in how they structured their post-retirement assets are not so lucky. Suddenly that sea-side holiday home, weekend rural hideaway, expensive boat, regular overseas holidays, top of the range Winnebago and/or speculative land purchase are no longer being comfortably subsidised by the part-pension.

The absence of individual real-life hardship case studies in media articles concerning new pension eligibility rules appears to indicate that most part-pensioners realise that the changes are relatively fair.

Unfortunately for the Turnbull Government this will not mitigate ire at the ballot box in 2018. 

Firstly, because this particular welfare cost-cutting measure is retroactive and removed a measure of certainty regarding retirement income for est. 80,000-100,000 older people. And secondly, because the cost-cutting marches hand-in-hand with the federal government's determination to continue to ignore what ordinary voters view as blatant rorting of the Australian taxation system by very wealthy individuals and corporations.

Do Joe Hockey and Mathias Cormann want to reduce the number of retirement years the average Australian worker can expect before death intervenes?

In July 1908 and December 1910 when the Commonwealth age pension came into effect for men and then women aged 65 years and 60 years respectively, average life expectancy after reaching retirement age was 11.3 years for men and approximately 13 years for women.

Since then retirement age has been reset to 65 years of age for both genders.

However, according to Centrelink from 1 July 2017, the qualifying age for Age Pension will increase from 65 years to 65 and a half years. The qualifying age will then rise by six months every two years, reaching 67 by 1 July 2023. 

Currently residual life expectancy for someone aged sixty-five years is 19.1 years for men and 22 years for women.

However, by seventy years of age life expectancy will drop to 15.3 years for men and 17.8 years for women with further declines in the years 80, 90 and 100.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also notes; Since 1983 the number of deaths has increased by 1% on average annually. The steady increase in the number of deaths over time reflects the increasing size of the population and, in particular, the increasing number of older people. With continued ageing of the population the number of deaths will continue to rise, with deaths projected to outnumber births sometime in the 2030s.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states; At 30 June 2012, 76% of people aged 65 and over received an Age Pension through Centrelink or a similar payment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. More than half (59%) of those receiving a Centrelink Age Pension received a full-rate pension.

So basically when you consider these statistics they indicate that the majority of those Australian citizens already receiving an age pension will cease drawing this pension sometime in the next 2 to 18 years.

Most of those citizens about to become eligible will likely be receiving the age pension for the next 19.1 to 22 years.

While in nine years time, everyone born after mid 1956 will on retirement only receive this pension for an estimated 17.6 to 20.3 years. That is approximately 6.3 to 7.3 years longer than those people receiving the aged pension in 1908-1910.

So when the Federal Finance Minister is reported as stating that life expectancy was 55 when the age pension was introduced, but life expectancy was now 30 years longer he is simply missing the point – the average Australian is not likely to live another thirty years beyond retirement.

And when the Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey talks of the need to raise the national retirement qualifying age beyond the current planned rise, he is being somewhat premature. Especially as the number of retirees dying by 2023 will have grown considerably.

One might suspect Messrs. Hockey and Cormann of hoping that if they raise the pension eligibility age to 70 years then, given the last calculated median age at death for both genders, around half of those applying for this pension will possibly have ceased receiving it within 8.6 to 16.6 years.

Which for the men in this group would mean that (if Hockey and Cormann prevail) they will have less years to enjoy retirement than their forebears did in 1908, while women in the same group only get around three years more than women did in1910.

Chasing the winter sun.......

Car's loaded with the travelling chattels, mutt's in the passenger seat and I'm off chasing the sun into Bananaland for the next four weeks.
No phone, no newspapers, no Internetz - bliss!
I'm sure the blogosphere will continue to keep the balfastards honest while I'm away.