From: hugh wilson [wilsongeddes@bigpond.com]
Sent: Sunday, 4 August 2002 6:12 PM
To: fpa.sen@aph.gov.au
Subject: Life members gold pass submission

Hugh Wilson 214 Geddes Street Toowoomba 4350 07 4636 1349
wilsongeddes@bigpond.com

4 August 2002

Attention: The Secretary, Senate Finance and Public Administration
Legislation Committee, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600.

Re: Members of Parliament (Life Gold Pass) Bill 2002

Dear Secretary

1901 was a long time ago. Railways were all the rage, steamships
criss-crossed our coastline. Travel was a long term undertaking. Politicians
came from a broad spectrum of society, well, broader than today anyway, and
were not so well paid as now.

When the Gold Pass came into existence I have no idea but I am prepared to
believe it was during the establishment of this country...a long time
ago...when such perks were not regarded as out-of-place or as hand-outs to
the undeserving rich.

Today, sadly as much from the politicians own efforts of constantly rorting
their travel allowances, having affairs at our expense, fiddling the
electorate funds and postage allowances as from their aggressive efforts of
denigrating the unemployed, the halt, lame and infirm, there is now a
feeling abroad in the community that it is well beyond-the-pale to give
highly paid politicians anything over and above their salaries and overly
generous superannuation that, let us not forget the last ineffectual Senate
investigation of that rort, is paid to them at quantum-leaps above the rest
of the community and which they are allowed to access well before the rest
of the community, and which is protected, indeed insulated, from the
collapse of share values that our funds are currently undergoing. They
already receive a gold pass on super' alone.

My submission is simple.

There can be no excuse for the provision of a Gold Pass, Silver Pass, Bronze
Pass or Credit Chip to these people whatsoever.

Currently granted Gold Passes should be revoked at the earliest possible
opportunity. Politicians in the current Parliament should be made aware they
will not be receiving this generous bludge in their old age.

No form of travel concession need be made to replace this freebie either.
Let them take a trip to Old Kent Road if they want, at their expense and
without passing Go.

Should the Senate fail to recommend such a swift and decisive move then
perhaps it could remain in limited form, say three designated journeys per
year, taxed at the highest possible rate as some form of fringe benefit as
it would for we mortals.

Or limited to trips to undeveloped areas of Australia such as Tasmania,
Kangaroo Island, Katherine or some other God forsaken town the country is
full of as a result of our politicians economic and social reforms.

Or perhaps Tony Abbott could be persuaded to introduce a form of enterprise
bargaining for politicians, between them and the punters in their
electorates, with Gold Passes negotiated as some form of productivity
trade-off in return for us not importing third world politicians to work for
less money?

No, I thought not.

I do look forward to the politicians understanding, for once, how
out-of-step they are with the people they are supposed to represent and
voting themselves out of a Gold Pass.

And pigs can fly.

A brief anecdote. As a youth I once travelled on a train in an empty
carriage. After a few stops a man with a Gold Pass got in and shared the
carriage with me. When the ticket collector came round I was ushered out of
the carriage to be forced into another with almost no spare space. Why
wasn't the free ride sufficient for this loafer?

Regards,

Hugh Wilson