Liberals will protect pensioners from government rent rise

· Pensioners to receive a further two-year Housing Tasmania rent holiday under a Hodgman Liberal Government

· We back the Federal Treasurer, who said it would be unacceptable for the States to pick-pocket from pensioners who have just received a hard-won, one-off pension increase

· Challenge to Labor to follow our lead

A Hodgman Liberal Government will ensure the hard-won pension increase is not pick-pocketed by the State Government in the form of higher Housing Tasmania rents. This is line with our strategy to create a Fairer Tasmania and support disadvantaged Tasmanians.

Our government will exempt the one-off pension increases from public housing rent calculations for a further two years.

This will enable approximately 6000 Tasmanians to spend their pension increase on food and other essential needs – not have it siphoned into State Government coffers.

The Bartlett Labor Government must follow our lead and rule out clawing back pensioner incomes after the 12 month rent holiday expires next September. This is a test of the Premier’s so-called commitment to social inclusion and improving the situation facing some of our most disadvantaged citizens.

I wholeheartedly agree with the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, who said yesterday:

There is no justification whatsoever that any premier can claim for the increase…For the State Government to come along and pickpocket some of that is unacceptable…(the pension rise is) not to be clawed back in some sneaky way by NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, and the State Premiers.

The plight facing pensioners has been exacerbated by a range of State Government imposts. And today in Parliament, we’ve again shown the extraordinary level of waste of taxpayers’ funds that continues from this tired and out of touch government.

The Premier needs to understand that despite his claims that Tasmania is enjoying an economic renaissance, out in the real world, many Tasmanians are doing it tough.
Will Hodgman MP Leader of the State Opposition