Our payments into DFRDB were compulsory,and servicemen and women were led to beleive that the payment to them would be more than sufficient for the lives after the service, there were no option that I was aware of where paying more to increase our (pension) was an option.
Politicans should get the same or less as anyone else. Increase dfrdb or decrease politicians super. The only honest solution.Let's see politicans show their real colours.
My Husband Phillip and I are dying slowly of the F-111 SR51 sealant poisoning, yet even after the Government said they accepted full Liability and accepted the findings of the Health Study, we are not going to receive any compensation and just be left to die.
I suffer conditions every day, not even including my Carer duties to Phillip, yet my Carers pay hasn't increased and my needs are getting more demanding each day, so I support this petition.
Elevate us from being a third class citizen Mr Costello I paid my contributions for 23 years. No wonder recruiting is down. Its our sons and daughters who see how ex service people are treated .
We have been didled out of our entitlement when the labour Gov in 1972 transferred nearly a billion dollars to consolidated revenue.What is fair and reasonable.
They send you away to protect this great country, if you are killed they give you a pine box and a flag, if you survive they give you a pittance and
hope you will go away quietly. NO WAY
In a time of increased reliance on the willingness of service personnel to deploy on active service overseas the Government needs to show that it cares for service personnel after they have retired and recognizes their contribution to the country. To ignore this issue would be saying that anyone who chooses to serve their country is completely disposable.
As members of the Regular Army, we did not have a say in which superfund we would like to join. We paid our subsciptions to DFRDB without any options, inlike people in private funds. We paid tax on our contributions and now pay full tax on our super payouts when we are retired.( Unlike recipients of private super fund allocated pensions).
Surely the future fund , including the windfall from the Telstra3 sale classifies DFRDB as "funded".
The Government has made it harder for veterans with genuine disablities to access their entitlements.
Lower inflation rates has also seen an erosion of real income over the past decade. This is in contrast to TPI beneficiaries, who now have their pensions linked to average wage levels or CPI whichever is the greater. Private super funds have enjoyed growth and incresed benefits through rising share prices. Age pensioners have their payments linked to CPI or average wages - whichever is the grester, whereas DFRDB recipients remain locked into CPI only, which does not reflect the flexibility and fairness to pensioners and private superannuants.
DFRDB recipients through their payments, relieve the Australian Government from paying full age or service pensions. The majority of us only receive a part service pension or, no service pension at all.
Looks like veterans whi gave 20 plus years in the service of their country are destined to continue to be treated as second class citizens by this and all succeeding governments.
During my 28 years in the Defence, the government has not done any great favours for their employees (Defence personal)except deploy and use as pawns on a chess set. It is time the government supported it's Defence pers.
Howard likes to attach himself to our military achievements when it suits him and washes his hands of us when it doesn’t. Surely we can get the opposition onboard on this and get some publicity and public support.
