The pensioners are revolting

Retired members of the AMWU took part in a pensioner protest in Melbourne on Wednesday. You know things are bad when grandad is protesting :)

Public outrage over the punishing Abbott Budget has spilled into the streets from furious pensioners to angry students in a single day of mass protest. 

AMWU retired members were in the vanguard of a Fair Go for Pensioners (FGFP) rally in Melbourne on Wednesday, with hundreds condemning the changes which will see pensioners much worse off as a result of the budget changes.. 

Older people, multicultural groups, disabled youth and single parents all condemned the impact of the Budget’s levy on GP visits, cuts to family tax benefits, drastic tightening of the dole, reduced indexing of age pensions and removing concessions from the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. 

FGFP co-convenor Louise Wheeler said Treasurer Joe Hockey had declared war on low-income groups, swapping a so-called age of entitlement for a grim “age of inequality.” 

“The government is re-shaping this country as selfish, uncaring and FGFP says ‘no way’,” she said, as the crowd took up a “no way” chant. 

AMWU Retired Members Secretary Frank Cherry said later that every disadvantaged person who relied on social security and those who had worked hard all their lives for a decent pension were the government’s targets. more