Moore pushes pensions

Moore pushes pensions

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has called on the Rudd Government to disclose how many gays and lesbians will be affected by changes to pension entitlements following the introduction of equality reforms last year.

Moore this week added her voice to the push for a re-evaluation of the Centrelink changes by writing to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and expressing concerns on the behalf of her constituents that the new social securities schemes would add to the level of discrimination faced by pensioners over the age of 55.

Constituents are concerned that some people over the age of 55 years in same-sex relationships have planned their financial arrangements based on previous discriminatory laws, Moore stated in her letter.

I share concern that lesbians or gay men who previously experienced legal and social discrimination will again be discriminated against.

Moore called for a staggered change to pension entitlements and asked the Prime Minister to please inform me how many people will be affected by this measure and what action you will take to protect them.

Australian Coalition for Equality spokesman Corey Irlam, who last year called on the social security Minister Joe Ludwig to implement an impartial Ombudsman to process GLBT enquiries about Centrelink changes, welcomed Moore’s efforts.

I think it’s a wonderful thing that politicians want to get involved and stand up for peoples’ issues, and I would encourage everyone to write to their local Federal member, he said.
But what will be more interesting will be if Kevin answers Clover’s two questions, we would be keen to hear the response.

NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby convenor Emily Gray welcomed Moore’s involvement and said she was confident that an agreement could be reached on how best to introduce the new Centrelink reforms.

We’re still very conscious of the effects that social security reforms will have on members of our community, Gray said.

Overall we think the reforms are fantastic, obviously, but we are working with the Centrelink reference group, which has a number of community organisations on board, to try and talk to Centrelink and work with members of parliament to discuss ways the reforms can be introduced more fairly.

I think we’ve made progress in terms of the phasing in of the reforms. The people that we’ve been speaking to have been very open to our ideas and I suppose it’s just a matter of getting all the organisations together and trying to push for something a bit more in terms of the grandfathering approach.

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