Communist Party of Australia Maritime Branch

December 2013
1
We are expecLed Lo belleve governmenLs can no longer
afford Lhe servlces and beneflLs LhaL Lhey have provlded for
decades, desplLe masslve lncreases ln producLlvlLy, Lhe
lower cosLs of producLlon of many goods and Lhe record
amounLs of wealLh (and proflLs) belng creaLed by workers. lL
doesn'L add up. nor do Lhe reasons for governmenL cuLs.

1ake Lhe roducLlvlLy Commlsslon's recommendaLlon LhaL
workers reLlre aL 70. We are Lold Lhere ls a problem" -
people are llvlng longer! We have an agelng populaLlon who
wlll be on Lhe age penslon for more years. So, Lhe proposed
soluLlon Lo Lhls problem" ls Lo exLend Lhe reLlremenL age. lL
used Lo be 33 or 60 for women and 60 or 63 for men. 1hen lL
was lncreased Lo 63 for men and women and now lL ls ln Lhe
process of belng ralsed Lo 67.


no one ls preLendlng LhaL mosL workers wlll flnd [obs aL LhaL
age, lL's hard enough now for 30-year-olds Lo hang onLo
Lhelr [obs or flnd new ones when sacked.

1he real agenda ls noL reLlremenL aL 70, buL exLendlng Lhe
penslon ellglblllLy age so LhaL would-be reLlrees are puL onLo
unemploymenL beneflLs lnsLead of Lhe age penslon.
ollLlcally LhaL ls far easler Lhan reduclng Lhe age penslon.

1he unemploymenL raLe (newsLarL Allowance) ls a
dlsgraceful $230.30 per week. (lor Lhose over 60 who have
been unemployed conLlnuously for nlne monLhs or more lL
ls $271.03.) Compare Lhls wlLh an age penslon lncludlng
currenL supplemenLs of $413.33 (base penslon of $373.83).
1haL's an overnlghL savlng of up Lo $163 per week. lL also
delays ellglblllLy for a Senlors PealLh Card.


Build the political alternative
2

"Se|f-prov|s|on"

AL Lhe same Llme ellglblllLy for Lhe age penslon wlll be
LlghLened. AL presenL, Lhe famlly home ls exempL from asseLs
LesLlng. AbboLL, ln llne wlLh Lhe conservaLlve phllosophy of
self-provlslon", ls looklng aL lncludlng lL when asseLs LesLlng
for Lhe age penslon and aged care servlces.

1he ldea ls Lo draw on Lhe asseLs held ln Lhe famlly home, a
form of morLgage where Lhe bank provldes lncome for you Lo
Lop up your lnadequaLe superannuaLlon lncome, pay for aged
care, lncludlng nurslng home charges. lurLher down Lhe Lrack,
when access Lo Medlcare and publlc hosplLals become means
and asseLs LesLed, Lhen lL could be used Lo cover healLh
expenses Loo.

1haL would leL Lhe governmenL compleLely off Lhe hook, no
age penslon, you llve off Lhe asseLs ln your home and when
you dle, Lhe bank moves ln and geLs lLs money plus lnLeresL
back and your chlldren mlss ouL. ln oLher words Lhe bank mllks
you durlng your worklng llfe as you pay off Lhe home loan and
lnLeresL and Lhen, on your or posslbly your parLner's deaLh,
Lhe bank Lakes lL all back!

"Se|f-prov|s|on" |n a nutshe||.

Self-provlslon" ls noL only a glfL Lo Lhe banks buL Lo Lhe
lnsurance companles who wlll provlde Lhe varlous producLs
coverlng perlods of slckness, unemploymenL or oLher lncome
supporL durlng Llmes of need, lnsLead of Lhe governmenL. lL
provldes Lhe savlngs" Lo fund company Lax cuLs. 1hey are
already maklng a kllllng ouL of Lhe superannuaLlon funds.

1he CommunlsL arLy of AusLralla (CA) sLrongly opposes
people's homes belng morLgaged over Lhelr heads ln Lhelr old
age. 1he governmenL has a responslblllLy Lo fund aged care
servlces and Lhe age penslon ouL of cenLral revenue.

1he desLrucLlon of Medlcare ls also on Lhe agenda. 1hls
lncludes means and asseLs LesLlng, llmlLlng lL Lo baslc servlces
and forclng people lnLo prlvaLe healLh lnsurance cover for
medlcal servlces.

1he CA supporLs Lhe sLrengLhenlng of Medlcare so LhaL
bulkbllllng ls unlversal, docLors under Medlcare are salarled
and have Lhe Llme Lo address Lhe needs of Lhelr paLlenLs,
lncludlng prevenLaLlve care as well as oLher servlces.
8|t by b|t the s|ash and burn po||c|es be|ng pursued by the Abbott government are becom|ng more apparent. 1he pub||c
serv|ce, Med|care, soc|a| we|fare, pub||c educat|on, trade un|on r|ghts, wages and work|ng cond|t|ons are |n the f|r|ng ||ne. We
are be|ng to|d "the age of ent|t|ement |s over", that we cannot afford to keep pay|ng age pens|ons, that wages are too h|gh,
that workers must prov|de for themse|ves |n t|mes of unemp|oyment, s|ckness and ret|rement. 1hat the government must
bow out of anyth|ng the pr|vate sector can do, se|| off |ts assets and g|ve the m|n|ng corporat|ons and deve|opers a free hand.

3
1he lssue ls ldeology noL lack of money or a budgeL deflclL.
1he governmenL could flnd $13 Lo $20 bllllon overnlghL by
cuLLlng mlllLary spendlng, endlng Lhe fossll fuel rebaLe Lo
mlnlng companles and abollshlng Lhe prlvaLe healLh
lnsurance rebaLe whlch subsldlses prlvaLe hosplLals. And
Lhere's a loL more corporaLe welfare ouL Lhere Lo be cuL,
lncludlng Lax rorLs.

1he governmenL ls servlng Lhe lnLeresLs of Lhe blg buslness,
of Lhe blg banks and flnanclal lnsLlLuLlons. 1here ls no cash
shorLage when lL comes Lo fuLure corporaLe Lax cuLs. When
Labor 1reasurer aul keaLlng sLarLed Lhe process,
corporaLlons were paylng 46 cenLs ln Lhe dollar on declared
proflLs. 1reasurer !oe Pockey plans Lo cuL Lhe company Lax
raLe from lLs presenL 30 cenLs Lo 28.3 cenLs ln Lhe dollar ln
2013, and furLher ln Lhe followlng years.

1he CA belleves Lhe governmenL should be lncreaslng Lhe
LaxaLlon of company proflLs and Lhe rlch.

Workers to|d, prov|de more w|th |ess

AL Lhe same Llme as pushlng for self-provlslon" Lhe
governmenL ls backlng blg buslness demands for hlgher
producLlvlLy". 1hls ls spln for lower wages, loss of penalLy
raLes, lncreaslng Lhe hours of unpald overLlme, and cuLLlng
condlLlons and workers' enLlLlemenLs.

1he governmenL ls havlng us on, pushlng for lower wages aL
Lhe same Llme as expecLlng people Lo save more and
provlde for Lhemselves Lhrough lnsurance.

lL doesn'L add up. eople cannoL self-provlde when Lhelr
lncomes are halved or Lhey lack [ob and lncome securlLy. lL
doesn'L add up because lL ls noL supposed Lo. lL's all
rheLorlc, pollLlcal spln deslgned Lo fool people and sell
unpopular pollcles.

Cne of Lhe maln alms of Lhe AusLrallan 8ulldlng and
ConsLrucLlon Commlsslon leglslaLlon and new lndusLrlal
relaLlons laws Lo come, ls Lo weaken Lrade unlons and
organlsed reslsLance Lo lower wages and loss of condlLlons.
newman's l8 laws ln Cueensland are an lndlcaLlon of whaL
AbboLL has ln mlnd. 1hey are based on Poward's
WorkCholces, buL go much furLher ln denylng workers Lhelr
rlghLs. (See Cuardlan #1620, 27-11-2013,
CorporaLe sLaLe agenda - your rlghLs LhreaLened -
hLLp://www.cpa.org.au/guardlan/2013/1620/01-corporaLe-sLaLe-agenda.hLml".)
4
Chlldcare workers, on $19 an hour, have [usL been Lold Lhe
governmenL ls golng Lo axe Lhelr promlsed wage rlse. CLher
communlLy workers expecLlng fuLure lnsLalmenLs ln Lhe
equal pay enLlLlemenLs wlll have Lo flghL lf Lhey are golng Lo
geL more federal fundlng Lo cover Lhe lncreases. romlses
by prevlous governmenLs mean noLhlng.

1he CA belleves, ln llne wlLh lnLernaLlonal law, LhaL Lrade
unlon rlghLs are baslc human rlghLs, LhaL unlons should
have Lhe rlghL Lo organlse, Lo collecLlvely bargaln and Lake
lndusLrlal acLlon wlLhouL LhreaL of heavy penalLles or belng
sued for mllllons of dollars. 1he arLy sLrongly opposes
lndlvldual employmenL conLracLs and non-unlon enLerprlse
agreemenLs.

1here |s another way

1he real crlsls faclng Lhe people of AusLralla ls Lhe
governmenL's wlLhdrawal from lLs soclal responslblllLles and
bowlng down Lo blg buslness demands Lo slash Laxes and
cuL publlc servlces.

1he CA sLrongly opposes Lhe prlvaLlsaLlon of governmenL
servlces, buslnesses and deparLmenLs. Cnly Lhe publlc
secLor can provlde servlces on Lhe basls of need, wlLhouL
Lhe confllcL of lnLeresLs and cosL-cuLLlngs LhaL occur when
Lhe prlme moLlve becomes prlvaLe proflL. ubllc ls cheaper
and beLLer.

1he governmenL should be focussed on expandlng and
lmprovlng publlc servlces, noL sacklng sLaff, closlng
deparLmenLs and prlvaLlsaLlon. CovernmenLs have a
responslblllLy Lo ensure Lhe well-belng of Lhe people.
1he CA belleves LhaL all workers who pay Lhelr Laxes
durlng Lhelr worklng llfe are enLlLled Lo an age penslon
whlch enables Lhem Lo llve ln dlgnlLy and en[oy reLlremenL.
1he CA has Lhe pollcles for a dlfferenL klnd of socleLy
based on soclal [usLlce, democraLlc rlghLs and peace. 1hey
are affordable and reallsLlc.

We lnvlLe you Lo [oln us, Lo work wlLh us and help bulld a
sLrong and vlbranL arLy. We know Lhere are many oLher
organlsaLlons and lndlvlduals who have slmllar alms and
pollcles. We musL [oln forces and bulld Lhe broadesL
posslble movemenL - a coallLlon of lefL and progresslve
forces.

8y Anna ha

Authorised by the CPA Maritime Branch 74 Buckingham St Surry Hills 2010 | e: cpamaritmebranch@gmail.com

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