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News of matters of immediate relevance to members
MILITARY SUPERANNUATION INDEXATION - CAMPAIGN UPDATE
A Message From The RAR Association, Australia
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED NOW!
Warriors and your family,
We need your support to correct an injustice that remains inflicted on many in our defence family from an unfair indexation formula that is applied to our military superannuation schemes: DFRBF, DFRDBF and MSBS. This is one of a number of superannuation matters that we want changed.
If you are not fully aware of this and other concerns that the combined ESOs have identified then visit www.dfwa.org.au and select “What’s New/Current Issues”. This web site is the core referenced source for data relevant to our campaign.
We want the Government to change our indexation formula from the current CPI to the same formula applied to the Age/Service Pensions to maintain purchasing power: effectively CPI, PBLCI or MTAWE whichever is the greater.
For too long our requests to correct the injustice have failed because the Governments of the day refused to accept the evidence of its own Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the recommendations of numerous Senate enquiries.
You will recall that prior to the 2007 Federal election the Labor Party in Opposition gave our defence family the belief that they supported our position and would conduct a review of the matter if elected. Many of us were influenced to vote for the Labor Party. In Office the Labor Government commissioned the Matthews’ report. Its recommendation was that the CPI was the correct indexation formula for all military superannuation pensioners and commonwealth employees’ superannuation schemes. We believe that this report is seriously flawed for many reasons.
Both the Government and the Coalition opposition maintain that the cost of the indexation change is too high and cannot be afforded. In reaching this conclusion they accepted Matthews calculated total cost of both the military and public servants. Although they have recognised the uniqueness of the military profession they have not separated the military costs (estimated as about one third of the total costs). Interestingly enough we have not been able to see the financial figures that enabled this conclusion to be reached.
Our demand for the indexation change relates only to the military superannuation schemes.
Enough is enough: words certainly are not enough. In this election year it is time for our action.
We have joined with the DFWA to establish an ESO Alliance with the NAA, and RAAFA, and we are exploring alliances with other associations to conduct an active co-ordinated campaign aimed to influence the Government to legislate to change our indexation formula and the Opposition Parties to include such change in their election platforms.
To be successful we need to fund the campaign from many sources: chiefly from your donations. Monies will be used solely for the campaign: media kits, presentation materials, promotions, professional advice etc. Any surplus funds will be donated to a charity that supports our defence community.
You can help us achieve our objective by:
·Donating money;
·Volunteering to support our Action Teams to be established within your Federal electorate;
·Continuing to keep the matter alive with your local Federal member and nominated candidates for the electorate
·Spreading the request for support amongst your fellow warriors, families and friends
Details on each of these will be provided separately.
Ted Chitham
RARA Co-ordinator
24 April 2010
A Message From The RAR Association, Australia
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED NOW!
Warriors and your family,
We need your support to correct an injustice that remains inflicted on many in our defence family from an unfair indexation formula that is applied to our military superannuation schemes: DFRBF, DFRDBF and MSBS. This is one of a number of superannuation matters that we want changed.
If you are not fully aware of this and other concerns that the combined ESOs have identified then visit www.dfwa.org.au and select “What’s New/Current Issues”. This web site is the core referenced source for data relevant to our campaign.
We want the Government to change our indexation formula from the current CPI to the same formula applied to the Age/Service Pensions to maintain purchasing power: effectively CPI, PBLCI or MTAWE whichever is the greater.
For too long our requests to correct the injustice have failed because the Governments of the day refused to accept the evidence of its own Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the recommendations of numerous Senate enquiries.
You will recall that prior to the 2007 Federal election the Labor Party in Opposition gave our defence family the belief that they supported our position and would conduct a review of the matter if elected. Many of us were influenced to vote for the Labor Party. In Office the Labor Government commissioned the Matthews’ report. Its recommendation was that the CPI was the correct indexation formula for all military superannuation pensioners and commonwealth employees’ superannuation schemes. We believe that this report is seriously flawed for many reasons.
Both the Government and the Coalition opposition maintain that the cost of the indexation change is too high and cannot be afforded. In reaching this conclusion they accepted Matthews calculated total cost of both the military and public servants. Although they have recognised the uniqueness of the military profession they have not separated the military costs (estimated as about one third of the total costs). Interestingly enough we have not been able to see the financial figures that enabled this conclusion to be reached.
Our demand for the indexation change relates only to the military superannuation schemes.
Enough is enough: words certainly are not enough. In this election year it is time for our action.
We have joined with the DFWA to establish an ESO Alliance with the NAA, and RAAFA, and we are exploring alliances with other associations to conduct an active co-ordinated campaign aimed to influence the Government to legislate to change our indexation formula and the Opposition Parties to include such change in their election platforms.
To be successful we need to fund the campaign from many sources: chiefly from your donations. Monies will be used solely for the campaign: media kits, presentation materials, promotions, professional advice etc. Any surplus funds will be donated to a charity that supports our defence community.
You can help us achieve our objective by:
·Donating money;
·Volunteering to support our Action Teams to be established within your Federal electorate;
·Continuing to keep the matter alive with your local Federal member and nominated candidates for the electorate
·Spreading the request for support amongst your fellow warriors, families and friends
Details on each of these will be provided separately.
Ted Chitham
RARA Co-ordinator
24 April 2010
Recent news & updates
To view the previous NOTICE BOARD entry regarding Military Superannuation Indexation, click the link below.
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