Page 677 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018
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print edition has a circulation of fewer than 15,000 and “fewer and fewer people are accessing traditional media; therefore we have to completely overhaul the way we communicate as a government”. But that is ignoring those people that need that traditional media. One of the biggest issues facing seniors, I hear, is loneliness. I have heard this over and over again as I have recently taken up the role of shadow minister for seniors. We have to make sure that seniors remain connected and engaged with their community wherever we can, and the traditional media is one of those channels.
I can assure you, as Mr Coe has, that we do not always agree with what happens and what is being reported in the Canberra Times, but we must acknowledge and appreciate the role that the media play in a democracy. Last week was Seniors Week, and I can tell you that the seniors’ community were not happy about those remarks. I spent the whole day on Thursday at the seniors’ expo talking to people. The sentiment on the ground was one of disappointment but not surprise that the Chief Minister had shown his true colours yet again, backing up previous comments he had made about seniors.
We have a Labor government here in the ACT that do not want to listen to seniors. They do not want to keep seniors abreast of what the government are doing. We have a Labor government here in the ACT that want to increase seniors’ rates and charges. They want to take away seniors’ concessions. They want to increase the eligibility age for the seniors card. And we have a federal Labor opposition that wants to take away their tax credits. Labor’s new retirement tax would hit 3,877 pensioners in the ACT, but Labor is happy to see 3,877 pensioners in the ACT worse off with the proposed retirement tax.
It is clear that the Labor Party inherently hates seniors and sees them as an easy target. We are talking about those people who have spent their entire life building our community, paying taxes and rates and fees and charges, and now they are being used as a soft target to fund pet projects. According to this Labor government, as soon as you retire, as soon as you are no longer a member of a union, they chew you up and throw you out. They do not want to know about you anymore.
The Labor Party, in particular this government, hates not only journalists but also seniors. One of the rationales for hating journalists was that only old people read their papers or listen to their news, but over here on this side of the chamber we understand something about seniors. We understand that we must listen to them, no matter how they get their news, no matter their opinions, and above all we must respect them, even if they disagree with us.
While this Chief Minister does not want to hear the views of seniors, he is certainly willing to take their taxes. He is willing to increase their rates, reduce their subsidies and concessions, but do not ask for their opinions on planning because they are just old. As an Assembly we must respect their experience. Seniors are often, but not always, retired. They have a lifetime of experience behind them. But now they also have the time to review policy and contribute to public debate, which they may not have had in those years when they had full-time work and were raising their families.
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