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Pensioners protest budget's raw deal

Selena Black, Melbourne

17 May 2008

Angry at the raw deal they received in Treasurer Wayne Swan’s budget, up to 300 pensioners blockaded one of Melbourne’s busiest intersections on May 16.

Traffic was blocked for up to an hour before police moved the crowd onto the footpath; and some of the protesters stripped off to express their frustration.

The Fair Go for Pensioners Coalition is demanding that the pension be set at 35% of average weekly earnings. Currently it is 25% — a mere $270 a week.

According to Melbourne’s Age on May 17, one of the organisers, Shirley Grant, got the idea from the recent protest in which Melbourne taxi drivers also blocked the city intersection.

“We just want a fair go, enough money to live on”, Grant said, according to the article. “We were forgotten in the budget and we haven’t had a substantial increase in years.”

Banners read “A fair go for pensioners” and “It doesn’t pay to grow old”. Grant is looking at taking the protest to other states.