The federal government wants to create a two-tiered aged pension system. A proposed pension cut currently being considered by parliament will affect only pensioners who have worked fewer than 35 years in Australia.

If passed, the new law will require Centrelink to reduce payments to these pensioners if they travel overseas for longer than six weeks at a time. Currently, all aged pensioners can travel for 26 weeks before their pension is affected.

Nearly 40 percent of aged pension recipients were born outside of Australia. George Zangalis, a member of the Fair Go For Pensioners coalition, said the government was penny-pinching by attacking this group. “Migrants have paid their due to Australian society … denying migrants the right to their already very miserable pay is despicable”, he told Red Flag. 

“The government should be attacking multimillionaires that aren’t paying their taxes, both national and foreign companies. There are billions there in terms of revenue … the government continues to give concessions to industry”, he said.

Migrant advocacy and welfare groups say the changes are discriminatory. Chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia, Joe Caputo, said that migrants returning to their countries of birth to visit sick relatives or spend time with family will be penalised under the plan.

The Refugee Council of Australia has pointed out that refugees will be hard hit because Australia’s limited family reunion immigration laws mean they are prevented from bringing family into the country.

Australia already has a high old age poverty rate. According to a report released by the OECD in January, more than one third of pensioners in Australia live below the poverty line. This is three times the OECD average. The Pensions at a Glance 2015 report also found that the Australian government spends 3.5 percent of GDP on the aged pension, while the OECD average is 7.9 percent.