Government Hard Sell on Ageing Strategy

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Government Hard Sell on Ageing Strategy

The Australian

February 26, 2004

Treasurer Peter Costello and Prime Minister John Howard will today begin the hard sell to convince Australians to work past the traditional retirement age.

In Sydney yesterday, Mr Costello outlined the government's vision to keep older people in the work force longer and encourage lone parents and disabled people back into paid jobs.

As the government works to seize the agenda from Labor, the treasurer detailed a strategy to address the challenges caused by the rapidly ageing population.

Unless a solution is found, the government predicts demand for health care and pensions by ageing baby boomers would create a Budget hole equivalent to $45 billion by 2042.

The policy received a mixed response from stakeholders.
COTA National Seniors chief executive David Deans welcomed the government decision to raise the issue of demographic change.
But he cautioned the government not to overstate the negative aspects of an ageing population.

"This is a good start in making the necessary modifications to designing a responsive system to people's needs, desires and expectations in later life in the 21st century," Mr Deans said.

"Much of our retirement income system has become outdated."
Employer groups said the key to getting more older people into the work force was a decentralized industrial relations system.

"(We need a system) where employers and employees can negotiate at the workplace for mutual benefit," Australian Business Ltd managing director Mark Bethwaite said.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) criticised the proposals for falling short of addressing the key issues surrounding superannuation.

"The treasurer has lost an opportunity to make more fundamental and far-reaching reforms to the system," AIST vice-president Andrew Whiley said.