North Coast seniors, Casino and Alstonville don't share Saffin's Budget enthusiasm

“At current spending rate Alstonville bypass won't open until 2016...” Ten of thousands of North Coast aged pensioners and the communities of Alstonville and Casino are the big losers from Labor's first federal budget, according to North Coast Nationals Duty Senator Fiona Nash said today. “Local aged pensioners are unlikely to share Ms Saffin's self-serving view that this is 'the best budget ever' for the North Coast, if their representative bodies are to be believed.” Senator Nash said. The chief executive of National Seniors Australia, Michael O'Neill, said: "The Government has failed to do anything to support our most vulnerable senior citizens, particularly those on single aged pensions." (SMH, 14/5/08, p4) The NSW branch of the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association was even more scathing, saying: “In Wayne Swan’s tax-cuts-theatre of the absurd, low-income pensioners miss out...Wayne Swan has failed low-income pensioners by putting fighting inflation before fighting poverty.” (cpsu.org.au) Senator Nash said Casino would miss out on a 400-jobs bonanza with Labor axing a $2.2 million Coalition grant for a new ethanol plant in the high unemployment community. She said Alstonville residents were accustomed to broken Labor promises in relation to their much needed bypass, but the Budget allocation of just $13 for the project was less than one sixth of the $90 million promised before the election. “That is a broken promise,” Senator Nash said. “At that paltry spending rate, the Alstonville bypass won't be opened until 2016.” To interview Senator Fiona Nash, please call 0428 864 845

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