WHY OUR ELDERLY GET LESS PAYOUT THAN COUNTRIES WITH LOWER GDP?

We can end much of this unacceptable elderly poverty that afflicts tens of thousands of our elderly pioneers within months, simply by raising our non-contributory pension, the Silver Support Scheme, from a current miserly average payout of $200 a month to $800 a month; what the elderly poor in New Zealand, a country with only half our GDP per capita receives.

It will cost us an additional $1 bn or 0.25% of GDP per year today and a peak of around 0.6% of GDP in 2050 as their numbers are growing rapidly as our baby boomers age.

It costs us little. It will give them the security and dignity they deserve.

We can well afford it. We lack only the heart, the will and the wisdom.

Speak to your MP. Tell your family. Share with your friends. Make elderly poverty history.