Back in May, a group of four retired politicians – Labor’s Barry Cunningham, Tony Lamb and Barry Cohen, and Liberal John Moore – launched an audacious bid in the High Court to claw bigger pensions and more free travel from the taxpayer.
The group was seeking to change section 51 of the constitution to challenge legislative changes that have slowed the growth of their retirement allowances. If successful, the ruling could have benefited up to 350 former politicians and 100 spouses, adding millions of dollars to the $40 million pension bill taxpayers already pick up every year.
Thankfully, the High Court has ruled against the retired politicians. From The Canberra Times:
The High Court has dismissed a challenge…
Not only has the case failed but the plaintiffs have been ordered to pay the costs of the long-running case – estimated to be many thousands of dollars.
…the court unanimously agreed that the changes to retirement allowances were lawful and “did not constitute an acquisition of property” because the entitlements were “inherently liable to variation”. A majority also ruled against their arguments on the Life Gold Pass…
The four plaintiffs already collect between $80,000 and $120,000 from the taxpayer every year, not including generous bonuses for ministerial or committee service.
You can’t make this stuff up. At a time when the Federal Budget is structurally stuffed, and Australian taxpayers are being made to tighten their belts, these parasites were demanding even more. So much for “ending the Age of Entitlement”.
The only upside is that they lost the case and now have to pay costs. Hopefully, this will dissuade similar frivolous actions from other greedy politicians.
