Comments on: Letter to Minister Tanner about Comsuper

By: Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:04:10 +0000

Thanks Kate for the interest you show in this issue.

However, as I advised the Prime Minister by letter today, that is one less vote for the ALP at the next election. There is only one thing that I think will move this issue forward, change my vote to a party which I believe will bring fairness and dignity to retired public servants. And, yes, I do live in a marginal seat.

By: Gordon Falk

Gordon Falk — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:53:42 +0000

Time for a follow up letter me thinks,here we are keep in the dark as usual,it make’s one think that the Minister has very little regard for his fellow member’s or of course Retired Public Servants and Retired Defence Force Retiree’s.Come on Kate if your fair dinkum time for some non answerable questions during question time

By: Leo Woodgate

Leo Woodgate — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:40:25 +0000

Dear Kate,
Thanks for your support. I attended a SCOA meeting last week and I have never been so disgusted with the Labour Party that I have supported in the past. No more. I have written to MPs, Ministers and the PM asking this one simple question, “Why are Federal Parliamentary pensions not indexed to CPI as is mine?” To date no one has had the decency or the guts to answer.
I will accept being indexed to CPI when Parliamentary pensions are indexed to CPI as well.

By: Rod Keefe

Rod Keefe — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:07:30 +0000

Kate,

Thanks so much for your persistence in this matter. I never had any faith that the Government intended to change the indexation methodology. Appointing Matthews was nothing more than a transparently cynical ploy to give credibility to the intention to do nothing. I note too, that current Defence Force ‘leaders’ are silent on the issue, but I guess your chances of appointment to a nice Government sinecure on retirement are not so good if you publicly rock the boat. I look forward to a Government announcement that politicians’ pension indexation will now also be restricted to CPI adjustments only but’ so far as I know nobody has managed to get that pig to fly yet.

By: Bruce Read 4169

Bruce Read 4169 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:07:06 +0000

Kate,
You have said you are interested in following up on points previously raised by myself. How about a second letter to Mr Tanner covering non Matthews terms of reference issues. I think it will be a long fight to have the Finance Dept. admit their figures to Matthews are wrong and a longer one to have Minister Tanner admit he make an error in accepting the Matthews Report, in part based on rubbery figures provided by his Dept. By all means pursue the indexation issue-it MUST be redressed, However, can we go after all of the other anomalies as a separate issue? That way positive steps by the Govt. won’t be seen as an immediate back flip on Matthews recommendations. This way we might get something, anything to alleviate the unfairness, unreasonableness and breach of promise we have been subjected to.

22yrs Army, Vietnam Vet, Lt. Col (Ret)

By: doc@mac.com

doc@mac.com — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:25:05 +0000

As a vietnam veteran with 20 years service I gave up beleiving politicians when I stopped wearing short pants

By: Kate Lundy

Kate Lundy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:47:32 +0000

Thanks for your response Jim, and everyone else! I know there is a lot of scepticism (reading the blog shows that!) about where we go next but I think that many people understand the direction outlined in the letter may offer the best opportunity to move forward in the short term.

By: irritable

irritable — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:36:05 +0000

If you really support your constituents on the matter cross the floor!

Voting along party lines simply demonstrates how ineffective you are in championing the interests and causes of your constituents.

By: Consie Larmour

Consie Larmour — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:20:20 +0000

Thank you for these comments and assistance. There are a number of related issues which we will need to follow up, as mentioned by Bruce Read, Jim Hislop and others, and questions raised by these contributors, Bill Arden and others.
In our work to support the campaign for fairer indexation of ComSuper and Defence pensions, we need sound evidence to challenge some of the assumptions and conclusions of the Matthews report. We have been receiving some thoughtful critiques/analyses of this report, which are very helpful. SCOA, DFWA, ACPSRO and affected organisations (I could say disaffected organisations!) have been working on this. To challenge the Department of Finance costings (which we can probably do by reason of the clawback factor alone) we need solid research and case studies, which are being collected. The letter to Minister Tanner urging timely action in terms of Recommendation 4 is a first step.

By: Joe Clark

Joe Clark — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:01:38 +0000

Your letter is a step forward. Congratulations and thanks for that. However, we need you and your colleagues to get really serious about the final sentence in the penultimate para of your letter where you say to Minister Tanner that you want him to open the way for consultation and further progress towards fairness in the future.

We cannot wait too long for that “future”

For me the damage has been done. 40 years in the publc service – 20 of those at Senior Executive level – and after 15 years of inadequate indexing my pension fell to the level where I became an age pensioner.