Pensioners $25,000, Couples $37,923 year WOW !, page-19

An acquaintance informed me of his situation. He is married and his wife stayed at home. When he turned 66, he was eligible to apply for the pension but a strange quirk of the rules prevents him doing so. His wife is nearly 10 years younger than him. Therefore he is not entitled to the single pension but to half of the couples pension.

He was told that because his wife was working age they wouldn't be paying to support her. He told them that she hasn't worked since the kids grew up and left home and that his income was all they needed but that he couldn't live on under $750.00 per fortnight. The single pension is about $200.00 more per fortnight.

So after discussions with Centrelink he is left with two choices. Send his wife out to work and have Centrelink further reduce the already meagre $750.00 per fortnight depending on how much she earns or continue working until his wife reaches pension age which is another 11 years and he'll be 77 years old!!

Is this what we've come to in Australia? This, by any standard, is not fair. As a matter of fact, it's bloody cruel. Why are we treating aged Australians so badly?