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By avoiding means testing, the government is giving handouts to the rich
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this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2026
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yup. the one I hate the most is people on the full age pension living in multi million dollar mansions while others are homeless, and then they pass that untaxed wealth on to their children when they die. A fair system would require they downsize to something more reasonable and live off the proceeds if they genuinely don't have any other source of income in retirement.
It's not grandmas fault the house sh;es lived in since 1970 suddenly exploded in price. I'm really no fucking ok with this shit, it's devoid of humanity. You want to strip her community, her home, everything for...tiny little incremental gains?
The biggest beast is the fact that people are allowed to cash out their super. They cash it out, piss it up the wall and then turn around and go "PENSION PLS" and that is the biggest fucking drain. Cut that shit off at the knees.
I've seen this again and again with the old fellas in my neighbourhood and it drives me up the wall. That's not what Superannuation is for. And they all think they're so clever for 'gaming the system'.
either that or "It my money, I worked hard for it!!"
yes, and it's supposed to support you in your old age. I get the urge, after years of busting your arse you suddenly get more money than you've seen in your entire life and you finally don't have to work any more, but that's not what it's fucking for. It's there to ease over the hump of having way more people take out of the system than put into it because you're a one-off generation blowout.
So if Grandma's kids want to inherit, let them take out a reverse mortgage to fund her retirement, so that when she kicks the bucket they pay a chunk to the government if they can't stomach her being forced to downsize instead of live in the massive 6 bedroom mansion she no longer needs (or is able to look after without help). That would be the fair option.
again, you're exaggerating to SIX BEDROOM MANSION
Grannies on the pension are not living in these. And when Grandma dies the kids usually sell the property and pay the taxzes involved.
People who cash out their super and then piss it up the wall on a single trip, or plough it into investment properties and then turn around and demand a pension on the other hand.....
If it's multi million dollar property it's likely 4+ bedrooms.
And are you perhaps in line to inherit and therefore perhaps don't want to lose out? Some of us never inherit property at all, and the taxes on inherited property in Australia are generally minimised. How is that fair? People like to blame parents that don't "work hard" to build wealth for their kids, but the reality is the bulk of wealth is dynastic and protected: the poor will always be the poor. The tax burden should be very much be on the wealthiest 1%, but no one should be penalised for not inheriting property, so granny (and get inheritors) shouldn't be given government money when other options could be fairer across the board.
mate, the only things I'm inheriting is the ASD and predilection to supernumerary teeth, and I already have them. It's actually fairly likely I grew up in worse circumstance than you. But it is somewhat telling that you assume anyone in opposition to you must have something to gain from it, and is therefore safely classified as a class enemy
Agreed and I think ironically you would then need to give concessions to people over 65, they have no reason to downsize at the moment
If you own a million dollar 3 bedroom house, after you've done it up, put it on the market, paid all the stamp duty and fee's and then bought a 1 or 2 bedroom house, you have effectively gained nothing and lost a bedroom
Hence why they'd rather hole up in their million dollar mansions because there's no incentive for them to sell it
There would need to be maybe a waiving of stamp duty or something or downsizer incentive to give people a reason to do it
Hell even if they kept all the fee's etc but said downsizing to a smaller house once you're over 65 gives a 20% boost to your pension payment or something like this, even that would be a credible incentive as there are many pensioners living in million dollar houses that are asset rich (house) but cash poor (living off the pension)