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GALEN College students (from left) Charli Rispin, Bonnie Melbourne, Charlie Maher and Toby Beggs are among the local talent preparing to bring ‘High School Musica’l from the screen to the stage in Wangaratta this week. Full story page 5. PHOTO: Kurt Hickling
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Pensioners’ cost of living soaring WANGARATTA Senior Citizen’s secretary Ken Daly was last night waiting to see what the 2023 Federal Budget would offer in the way of relief for pensioners, especially as the latest data shows pensioners’ living costs have increased 2.2 per cent. The latest ABS Living Cost
Mr Daly said the data Senior S i citizens ii h hope p ffor di direct ffederal d lb budget dg relief li f shows some glaring
BY STEVE KELLY skelly@ nemedia.com.au
Indexes show pensioners and other government payment recipients are hit
the hardest by rising cost of living pressures. Pensioner living costs increased by 2.2pc in the March quarter compared to only 1.4pc for overall CPI ABS Living Cost Index. National Seniors Australia (NSA) chief operating officer
Chris Grice said the latest quarterly figures reveal a worrying increase. “The impact of cost of living expenses for pensioners reinforces the need for the age pension to be indexed more frequently during times
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of high inflation to ensure payments better reflect living costs,” Mr Grice said. The NSA has called on the Federal Government to index the pension more frequently during times of high inflation to help those most vulnerable.
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deficiencies in the age pension system, affecting many Rural City of Wangaratta’s pensioners. “Pensions indexation should be more frequent, perhaps quarterly would be more appropriate,” Mr Daly said. ■ Continued page 2
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