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Six thousand welfare recipients, including many old-age pensioners, could have their benefits slashed or withdrawn entirely under the Howard Government's largest assets means-test crackdown. The targeted group are pensioners who own a second house, which because of the property boom is now worth more than the threshold at which the pension cuts out or is reduced. The audit follows three years in which nationwide capital city property prices have risen on average 17per cent a year. The move has angered pensioners and welfare groups who fear many deserving recipients will be forced off benefits because the boom has pushed the value of their investment properties above the means-test limits. An internal Centrelink document obtained by The Australian reveals the most expensive houses will be targeted first. "We will start our reviews with the high-value properties and then move on to the other ones," the document reveals. "We will update the asset values of some properties that we know about. We also will be investigating real estate assets that customers have not told us about." The 6000 people targeted are on a range of means-tested welfare payments ranging from the disability support pension to the widows pension. The cut-off threshold for the aged pension assets test is $309,750 for single homeowners and $478,000 for aged-care recipient couples. But for single homeowners, the pension will begin to be reduced, but not entirely cut, if the property is worth more than $153,000. A spokeswoman for Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson said the Howard Government was always looking to crack down on people receiving too much. "We are always looking to add to our compliance measures to ensure we are protecting taxpayer funds, unlike Labor, who presided over record fraud and non-compliance," the spokeswoman said. "Initially, customers being reviewed under this budget measure we predict will own properties worth more than $1million or multiple properties in addition to their principal place of residence." Labor's family and community services spokesman Wayne Swan said the Government needed to be more honest with pensioners about what it was doing. "The Government needs to lay on the table the number of people removed through the interaction of the assets and the recent property boom," he said. Welfare Rights Network president Michael Raper said pensioners would be shocked to find out that their pensions could be stopped or reduced because of the real estate revaluation exercise. Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association president Morrie Mifsud said pensioners who were just "slightly" over the assets lines would suffer. "They are people who are still hard-pressed with their funds; not everyone who has a second home is rich. Some people are assets rich but finance poor."
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