Tragedy Of The Pensioned

Bleak Outlook for Retired Officials from Islands

By Eric Feldt.

VHEN the man from Papua-New Guinea is down on leave, and meets one of the old Public srvants who has retired, he is jnerally a little surprised at the lange in the old-timer.

He looks a lot older and his othes seem odd. While they have couple of drinks together, and lat of things Territorian, the older an is pre-occupied and not so terested in current events as he lould be. He excuses himself and >parts, and is evasive to meet ;ain, saying he does not come to wn often. The younger man links it a pity that the old boy has t himself slip.

It isn’t that. The old boy is living i his pension during an inflation, id he just hasn’t got the dough >w. He is pre-occupied because he wondering what he will have to it out to make up for the two ibudgeted drinks he has had. His Dthes look odd because they are i old cut (and they have to last lot longer, too). He doesn’t come town often because that costs oney.

And those things, with the rtainty that things will get worse stead of better, do make a man Dk old.

UPERANNUATION was intro -1 duced into the Papuan Service in the early twenties. It was ,sed on a service of 28 years; the tiring age being 55, and the allow ice was a proportion of the salary l retirement. The Public Servant ntributed 5 per cent, of his lary and the Administration a like tiount.

The scheme was designed py tuaries to be self-supporting. The nsion died with the drawer, and e amount paid to pensioners ried from about £6 per week to 2 per week—the latter to a few in e highest salary brackets. ' In New Guinea, Superannuation came effective in the late r enties, with the proviso that back tyment could be made by the iblic Servant to the commence ent of his service with the Civil iministration. Again 5 per cent, the salary was deducted, and the iministration contributed a like aount. The pension was a pro >rtion of the average annual salary id, on the death of the pensioner, df of the pension became payable his widow. The retiring age was or after contributing to the perannuation fund for 20 years, iter, an amendment was made by lich the retiring age of 55 became mpulsory; but anyone serving

under the earlier scheme was per mitted to retire after 20 years if he desired to do so.

This scheme was also actuarily designed to be self-supporting.

Under it, a Public Servant who re

tired at 55 drew from about £4 to about £7 per week, depending on his average salary and length of service. rpHERE was no great wealth in it X for the Public Servant; but, as the Australian basic wage, which measures the cost of living, was about £4 during the years in which the contributions were made, it then seemed that the Public Servant had a reasonable expectation that he would be free from want in his old age. He could, on the

Igures then supplied, be sure of he necessities of life and a bit over or comfort.

Now (September, 1951) the cost of Iving, measured by the basic wage, i over £9, and due to increase urther.

I To meet this increase, the Aus ralian Government granted an xtra 25 per cent, to widows, and to hose who were invalided or retired fter 55 years, not to apply if the ension is more than £lO per week, r if the pensioner is employed y the Commonwealth Government r any of its agencies.

It has since made a further icrease of £1 per week to all who articipated in the last rise and ere drawing £5 per week or over.

Ith a proportional rise for those rawing less than £5 per week. By lis, the man who drew £5 per week ension originally now gets £7/5/-; lat is, the value of his remunera on has altered from being 25 per snt. above the basic wage to only 3 per cent, of it a percentage lange downward of nearly 50 per ;nt., which is radical.

For those who retired, after 20 jars, from the New Guinea Service, ad who have had no increase, the osition is worse still.

T can be argued that super annuation was purely a money mtract, and that we are being paid hat is our due under it. However,

it was not a contract because the Public Servant had no choice, but was forced to join in.

The Public Servant was pro hibited from engaging in business in the Territory; he could not take up land or invest in agriculture or mining, which were the only industries; he could not trade nor, above all, take part in recruiting.

He had to stand aside from personal gain and maintain his disinterestedness for the benefit of the Administration.

Salaries were not high, but the cost of living was, for those days.

Holidays south were a necessity for health, while those who had families were under heavy expense to educate their children in Aus tralia. So that, in all, there was little chance of saving.

An insurance policy was the best that anyone could manage, and on that the premiums were loaded, in the early days; and on drawing an endowment it, too, had suffered from inflation.

We depended on our pensions to keep us in our old age and we felt that the whole terms of our service were such that it would be enough to let us live in moderate comfort as, I think, we were entitled to do.

WHAT did we do to deserve con sideration? Between the wars, we governed New Guinea on its own finances and Papua on a subsidy of £30,000 per year, as against the millions now being spent on those Territories. Australia made a good thing out of thei balance of trade, plus the money we spent in Australia when we were on leave. We risked our health, some faced real dangers on patrol, and all gave up any chance of mak ing a good living in Australia, to do so.

When the Jap invaded the Terri tories, he found a native population which was loyal to us to a degreei beyond the expectations of anyone in Australia, and who welcomed us back, while Indonesia, India and

Burma clamoured for and got independence. This record is a proud one and for it the Public Service must be given the greatest share of the credit.

We, like the most renowned economists, did not see an inflation coming. It fact, if we had, there

was nothing we could do about it— except hold the hat in the hand that was not held out, an attitude stultifying to pride in past achieve ment. This we have done, and have been given increases which are quite inadequate to put us in the position In which we formerly were.

There is ready sympathy f victims of a depression, but not i those of an inflation.

THERE may be further increas for those who have already h. them, but they will not compe sate for the rise in the cost of livir As a result, many pensioners ha taken jobs. They will explain th they got bored sitting about ai had to have something to do—the pride not allowing them to adir the more cogent reason that th want the money.

And, in this matter, there a not many highly paid jobs for tl man over 50 who has lived most his adult life in Papua or Ne Guinea. He must accept a low type of employment and finds bin self drawing a pay envelope whic with his pension added, is much le than he would have earned if 1 had never gone to the Territori at all. That is, there is no rewa: for having served the Commoi wealth in its outposts.

Then when he is 65, with tl inflation going on at its prese] rate, he will find himself with Superannuation Allowance which large enough to disqualify him froi the old age pension, but ni enough to live on.

As the years go on, retired Publ Servants can be expected to g poorer and poorer, giving up fro

me to time those little decencies liich make life worth living.

First, associations and charities ill be cut out; then the telephone ill be discontinued, and sub riptions to magazines; he and his ife will not go to the pictures so ten; social life will be reduced; pairs and upkeep of the home (if e pensioner is lucky enough to m one) will be let slide; and there 11 be small economies in living til, if we live long enough we will id in the poorer suburbs in shabby iverty.

Perhaps it is not as black as that, srhaps the inflation will end and i may get some value back into e pound, though not all.

The attitude of the Government is not been one of disinterest, and oposals for the betterment of our ; have been considered. I, per aally, acknowledge gratefully that l anomaly in my case was rectified th generosity within the limits of e scale now applying.

But it is in the interest of the immonwealth that pensioners )m the Territories should be well sated, so as to ensure that only e highest types of Australian will to the Territories—for it is on eir quality that the success of our

[ministration depends.