Pensioners 'desperate' for higher payments
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The Australian Pensioners and Superannuants League says the Federal Government needs to urgently raise the aged pension.
A discussion paper shows payments to single pensioners in Australia are lower than other developed countries, but the Government will not act until it receives a report in February next year.
Ray Ferguson from the league's Queensland branch says it is becoming harder for pensioners to make ends meet.
"Here in Queensland there's a waiting list of around about 38,000 people waiting for public housing," he said.
"Now what surprised me is the staggering amount - over 30 per cent - of that waiting list are pensioners.
"So where are they living? Now, obviously they can't afford to meet the costs of the private rental accommodation, which is almost equal per week to the single pension."
The National Seniors Association says some single pensioners are resorting to taking in boarders or pretending to be a couple, just to get by.
The president of the association's Hervey Bay branch in southern Queensland, Lola Baldwin, says pensioners are going to great lengths to cope.
"Things like perhaps taking in a boarder or sharing, two single pensioners sharing a house or a unit so that they can manage," she said.
"Things are getting in a desperate state for a lot of people."
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