Retirees form Seniors United Party of Australia
They planned to relax in retirement, but when these octogenarians discovered their voices were going unheard they decided to form a political party. That’s how the Seniors United Party of Australia (SUPA) was formed and the group of Sydney retirees are here to tell you, they’re not going to be pushed around any longer.
According to the Daily Telegraph, 83-year-old Neil Smith said their party will campaign for rights for the aged, but their mission is to get a parliamentary inquiry into the way retirement villages are run.
“Some of us have had professional lives only to find at the end we have no rights,” the former accountant said.
“People don’t realise until they get in there (a retirement village) and they say, ‘oh God, what have I done’, that you can’t get out.”
Leone Cordingley, 74, one of 500 members to have joined the party, said retirement living was taking advantage of the older population.
“They fleece you while you are living and they fleece you on the way out. We see ourselves as milking cows and there is no charity at all, it’s all about the quid,” Ms Cordingley said.
The founding fathers - Ray Morritt, Nick Agnew, Frank Fitzpatrick and Neil Smith (left to right in picture above) – do not plan on running, but are looking for a candidate to put forward at the federal election.
The Seniors United Party of Australia (SUPA) election platform:
- Parliamentary inquiry into the retirement village industry
- Aged Care (Nursing Homes): There is talk of handing over the accreditation of these facilities to the private sector, and at the same time, talk of stripping $534 million dollars of government subsidies from this industry.
- Palliative Care: We strongly endorse the introduction of a comprehensive National Palliative Care scheme, funded by the Federal Government.
- A crack down on Home Care Packages which are costing taxpayers a small fortune but delivering very little dollar value outcome to the patient.
- Superannuation: The current complex system of income and asset tests for the age pension should be replaced by a single means test which should NOT include the value of the family home.
To find more information visit their website here.
Related links:
The importance of community in retirement
8 steps to mentally prepare yourself for retirement
6 questions you must ask yourself before downsizing