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Pension age to rise to 70: Hockey

Treasurer Joe Hockey has confirmed plans to lift the pension age to 70.

Mr Hockey has also hinted the May federal budget will axe the “gold pass” scheme that gives free travel to retired politicians.

The treasurer told Macquarie Radio on Friday that the government would raise the pension entitlement age to 70.

“We are intending that to occur in 21 years’ time,” Mr Hockey said.

He said the previous government had already planned to raise the age from 65 to 67 in 2023.

Anyone entitled to the pension now was certainly not going to be affected, Mr Hockey said.

“It is hugely important we have long-term planning out of this budget,” he said.

The treasurer said his comments about the “age of entitlement” coming to an end also applied to politicians.

Asked whether the gold pass would be abolished, Mr Hockey said: “I can’t confirm where we are heading with that because that is a matter for the budget, but I hear what you say and we hear what you say.”

Labor scaled back access to the gold pass, reducing the number of free trips that ex-MPs and their spouses can take.

Mr Hockey also hinted the government would press ahead with a temporary debt levy on high income earners but said it should be assumed the levy would kick in at the $80,000 a year pay level.

“The only way people on incomes above a certain level can contribute (to paying off government debt) is through the tax system,” he said.

The treasurer said the government would need to spend $1 billion fixing the computer system used by Centrelink.

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