Age pension changes: Treasurer Joe Hockey says Australians need to 'work as long as they can'

Updated

Treasurer Joe Hockey says people should "work as long as they can", as the likelihood grows that the Government will raise the age of eligibility for the pension in its first budget.

Speaking to AM this morning, Mr Hockey gave the strongest indication yet that the age pension will be pushed back from 67 to 70 years of age, saying there is an "inevitability" that the entitlement age will have to increase.

"We should celebrate the fact that effectively, one in every three children born today are going to live to 100," he said.

"We should also not see someone's life ending when they turn 65 or 70. They should work as long as they can."

Mr Hockey added that he wanted to encourage businesses to employ people who were "restarting" their careers at the age of 50 or 60, particularly those switching from jobs in manual labour.

The Opposition says any changes to the pension would be a broken election promise.

Labor raised the pension age to 67 but its finance spokesman Tony Burke says that does not justify continued increases.

"These arguments that say 'Oh we can just keep adding ages before people retire' are a world away to the real life experience of people who are in physically demanding work," he told RN Breakfast.

The Treasurer has again defended the Coalition's wage replacement paid parental leave scheme as a productivity measure, saying the country needs "every generation" to work.

"For younger Australians, you're either going to have to earn or learn," he said.

"For middle-income Australians, middle-aged Australians, we need you in work. And for older Australians, we want you to have the opportunity to work."

Mr Hockey has also said a GP fee is "certainly something that is in the mix" for the May 13 budget.

It has been widely reported that the Government is poised to introduce a $6 co-payment or fee for bulk-billed appointments with a GP.

Yesterday, Health Minister Peter Dutton indicated the fee would be charged for people on higher incomes.

The Treasurer says that applies to many of his own constituents.

"My electorate in North Sydney has one of the highest bulk-billing rates in Australia and I have one of the wealthiest electorates in Australia," he said.

"To me there is something wrong with that."

Mr Hockey has also signalled long-term changes to superannuation tax concessions and the age at which people will be able to access their funds - currently set at 60 for those born after June 30 1964.

"We need to look at the role of superannuation and the preservation age," he said.

But he said many of the "structural changes" the Government is proposing will be taken to the next election due in 2016.

Mr Hockey has again signalled the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) may also face changes in its rollout.

The NDIS is due to be fully rolled out in 2018-19 at a cost to Federal Government of $8 billion a year - paid in part by an increase to the Medicare levy.

But the Treasurer says nothing has been quarantined in the budget process and the scheme will be rolled out "appropriately".

"We are currently considering it, it is not about delaying it, it is about making sure it is properly rolled out," he told Fairfax radio.

When asked if politicians' pay or entitlements would be cut Mr Hockey said "everyone will be making a contribution".

The Government says it has framed some of the budget around recommendations from the Commission of Audit.

Its 1,400-page report contains 86 recommendations and will be released next Thursday.

Topics: federal-government, business-economics-and-finance, budget, welfare, government-and-politics, australia

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