Well let's give'em a push along Dick.
How about we send off an e-mail to them and ask them to consider it.....and ask any other DFRB/DFRDB Superannuants to do so as well.

Good idea.

_________________
Mike (Pony) Moore
O42860
Ex-LT GLEN(ME)
16th MOBI intake
Jan 64 - Jul 88.
Anzac, Nirimba, Stalwart, Moresby, Creswell, Waterhen, Penguin, Vampire, GMGID (PJP), Coonawarra, Attack, Ardent, Cook, Kuttabull, Cerberus.

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

For ESOs etc

Please circulate widely the matter below to your members..

Mr Bill Oakeshott MP Notice of Motion will be debated Monday 24 May in the Parliament.

The motion is:

That the House:

- should consider increasing the Military Superannuation Pension twice annually by the greatest of either the Consumer Price Index, the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index or the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings; and

- should do this in recognition of the unique circumstances of military service compared to all others within the public service.

The motion is straightforward and clear, leaving no room for prevarication or dissembling by individual MPs regardless of party. [Note the word "consider" in (1) above. That allows MPs to vote in favour without making a financial commitment. This motion is Step One. Finding the money is Step Two! ]

Supporters should ask their MP by email, phone and/or an electorate office visit (may be a bit late for posted mail) to support the motion or if not, to say why not.

Mr Oakeshott's motion is not, if passed, a panacea or a solution but is certainly the best step in the right direction that we have seen so far. I'm sure that the Govt (& probably the Opposition) will try to bury it away out of sight, which is why we should give it as much exposure as possible before Monday.

If it is voted down, which will probably be the case, we will know who our genuine friends are!

Les Bienkiewicz
Executive Director
Defence Force Welfare Association
PO Box 4166
KINGSTON ACT 2604
T: 02 6265 9530
M: 0411 444248
F: 02 6265 9776
E: national@dfwa.org.au
W: www.dfwa.org.au

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

I've already put my local MP on the spot, via e-mail.

_________________

John Kelly (WEBMASTER)
R42620
Ex-WOMTH
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'83
Nirimba x3 - Rushcutter - Sydney x2 (Carrier) - Melbourne (Carrier) - Penguin - Kuttabul - Creswell x3 - Stalwart x2 - Brisbane.

After everyone has contacted their local MP it would not hurt to acknowledge Mr Bill Oakeshott MP and his proposed Notice of Motion. He can be contacted via http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/mem ... asp?id=IYS .

_________________
Ray (Dick) Powell
R43054
Ex WOMTH
18th MOBI Intake
Jan 65 to Dec 79 and Aug 82 to Dec 89
Nirimba, Sydney, Perth, Stalwart, Melville, Cerberus (several times), Derwent, Torrens, Jervis Bay, Kuttabul, Stirling, Waterhen

As have I.

_________________
Mike (Pony) Moore
O42860
Ex-LT GLEN(ME)
16th MOBI intake
Jan 64 - Jul 88.
Anzac, Nirimba, Stalwart, Moresby, Creswell, Waterhen, Penguin, Vampire, GMGID (PJP), Coonawarra, Attack, Ardent, Cook, Kuttabull, Cerberus.

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

....ditto, as have most of the others I forwarded the 'motion' to

_________________
Graeme 'Smiley' Rhodes
R94714
Ex-CPOMTP(D)5
Jan'65 Leeuwin Intake (10th) - Jan'66 Nirimba Intake (20th)
Jan'65 to Mar '88
Leeuwin, Nirimba, Stalwart, Samarai, Lae, Penguin, Curlew, Buccaneer, Navy Office, Barbette, Cairns, RANTTU (based in Port Moresby), Stirling, Bunbury.

I also have contacted my MP. He released a press statement a few months ago supporting improved indexation of military pensions. He has not responded yet, but as he is Michael Johnson (MP) I think he just might have a few other things on his mind right now and it seems most unlikely that he will be my local member after the election.

I also contacted Robert Oakeshott (MP) and he responded a little too promptly (maybe he doesn’t have quite enough to do).

His response: Thank you and if you keep lobbying throughout the network and going directly to other MP's then the process is underway as best we can do.
Thanks for getting in touch, Rob O

_________________
Ray (Dick) Powell
R43054
Ex WOMTH
18th MOBI Intake
Jan 65 to Dec 79 and Aug 82 to Dec 89
Nirimba, Sydney, Perth, Stalwart, Melville, Cerberus (several times), Derwent, Torrens, Jervis Bay, Kuttabul, Stirling, Waterhen

Reply received from my local member (or more likely the pleb who indicated that ".... Anna had read my email with concern any would like to formally respond but first could like to confirm my address to ensure that I was a constituent of hers" .... ) this afternoon, basically looks like a rehash of a press release that came out after original criticism of the Mathews report.

I will see if I can dig up a press release that this may have been cut & pasted from.

Not happy Jan




Dear Mr Moore

Thank you for your email concerning Military Superannuation Pension indexation.

At the outset, I acknowledge that the review findings into this issue by Mr Matthews and the Government response may have caused disappointment for some recipients of Australian Government civilian and military superannuation pensions. The Government has fulfilled its commitment to conduct an independent inquiry into the issue, and has acted in accordance with the findings of that inquiry.

Mr Matthews is an international leader in the global pensions and life insurance industry, an Australian citizen, past president of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, and currently a prominent actuary in the United Kingdom. As such he was eminently qualified to carry out an independent review of the pension indexation arrangements in the Australian Government civilian and military superannuation schemes.

The Government fully supports Mr Matthews’ findings and recommendations, and as such has no plans to move away from the Consumer Price Index for indexing the pensions of Commonwealth superannuants, as it is the most suitable index to protect pensions against inflationary price increases available at this time.

In relation to the use of an alternative index for indexation such as the Pension and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI) or Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) rather than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Mr Matthews did recommend consideration of the use of an alternative index for Australian Government civilian and military pensions but only if a robust index becomes available which reflects the price inflation experience of superannuants better than the CPI.

The PBLCI is not an index in relation to the living costs of superannuants. It has not been derived from the self-funded retiree Analytical Living Cost Index (ALCI), which was the index that Mr Matthews discussed in his report. The PBLCI focuses on the changes in the living costs of age pensioners, carers and disability support recipient households. As I have been advised, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has derived the PBLCI by combining the age pensioner ALCI and the other government transfer recipients ALCI.

Mr Matthews also did not find that it is inequitable or unfair that civilian and military pensions are increased differently to the Age or Service pensions as they are different benefits provided for different purposes and therefore can be increased on a different basis - the cost of living of self-funded retiree households often increases at a different rate to the cost of living of age pensioner and other income support recipient households due to different expenditure patterns.

Mr Matthews found that employers, including the Australian Government, provide superannuation for their employees as part of their reward for service. Therefore, if superannuation pension indexation is enhanced, it would constitute reward for no additional service. It would advantage pensioners over those employees who did not receive a pension (for example, those who elected to receive a lump sum).

Unlike the superannuation of most Australians, civilian and military pensions have largely been protected from the impact of the Global Financial Crisis which has affected the superannuation balances of many Australians.

While some civilian and military pensioners receive only small pensions from their schemes, this is not due to deficiencies in indexation of pensions. Rather, it reflects salary levels or, more likely, short periods of service. Those who served in the Australian Government for only a short period of time will have had other employment periods for which the Australian Government is not responsible. As well, like other Australians in similar circumstances, civilian and military pensioners with small pensions will have access to the Age Pension.

Mr Matthews, in his report, provides details on how length of service and salary impacts on scheme benefits.

You also raise the treatment of parliamentary superannuation. Individuals entering Parliament on or after 9 October 2004 are provided with superannuation under arrangements established by the Parliamentary Superannuation Act 2004. Under these arrangements, Members of Parliament (MPs) receive a 15.4 per cent Commonwealth employer contribution, payable into a superannuation fund chosen by the MP. That is, the same arrangements as apply generally to new public sector employees.

Those MPs who entered Parliament before 9 October 2004 are provided with superannuation under the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation (PCS) Scheme, an unfunded defined benefit superannuation scheme established under the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act 1948.

There have been changes in the composition of Parliament in recent decades and many MP’s now enter and leave Parliament at much younger ages that would have been contemplated at the time the PCS was established. The closure of the PCS scheme addressed concerns about the relatively generous superannuation benefits payable to these MP’s.

Thank you again for your email about this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me should have any further comments or enquiries regarding this or any other issue that may be of concern to you.

Yours sincerely
Anna Burke
Anna Burke MP
Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives
Federal Member for Chisholm
Level 1, 207 Blackburn Rd, Syndal 3149
Ph: (03) 9802 0566 I Fax: (03) 9802 0588 (Syndal)
Ph: (02) 6277 4123 I Fax: (02) 6277 8528 (Canberra)
 anna.burke.mp@aph.gov.auI  http://www.annaburke.com/

_________________
Mike (Pony) Moore
O42860
Ex-LT GLEN(ME)
16th MOBI intake
Jan 64 - Jul 88.
Anzac, Nirimba, Stalwart, Moresby, Creswell, Waterhen, Penguin, Vampire, GMGID (PJP), Coonawarra, Attack, Ardent, Cook, Kuttabull, Cerberus.

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

I see her website biography says..."Anna’s motto is “I’m here to helpâ€

_________________
Robin (Bob) King
R105234
Ex-WOETS4
25th MOBI Intake
July 68 - June 88
Nirimba, Waratah (Dam Neck), Brisbane, Waratah (Mare Is & LBNSY), Harman (CDSC), Waratah (Mare Is), Brisbane, Harman (Navy Office & CDSC), Waratah (Dam Neck & Mare Is), Harman (CDSC)

Wisdom comes with age, sometimes age comes alone.