Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 3:39 PM

Subject: [TPINet] Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Pensions.

Dear Ms. Vale,

I write to you as a TPI pensioner who has witnessed the erosion of his pension so that it now only equates to 43% of the Male Average Total Weekly Earnings. On top of that with the introduction of the GST my previously 'tax exempt' income now has 10% less buying power than before.

The erosion of the TPI pension was brought to the notice of your predecessor and most of his party colleagues over two years ago. The original reaction from Mr. Bruce Scott was one of denial, then justification, followed by admitting the erosion had occurred but it would take an awful long time for independant reviews and tribunals to find out what we have been telling him was, indeed, fact. Last year the Coalition Government rushed through legislation within days to alter the constitutional boundaries of this Commonwealth in order to stop a few boatpeople. It also rushed though legislation to guarantee the Ansett workers their redundancy payments within a matter of weeks. Yet when a group of people who have laid their lives on the line in service of their country ask for their benefits to be restored the government stonewalls for more than two years. I will also point out that the erosion of benefits started in 1972, so in reality the matter has been going on for 30 years. 30 YEARS! Name me one other sector of the community who would allow this to happen to their entitlements.

You have all the facts about the issue at hand and no doubt your many and varied staff have briefed you on this matter, so I will not go into minute detail here. This email, and all subsequent correspondence will be distributed throughout the TPI network and the service network generally and I have no doubt that you will receive more contacts of this nature as the year progresses.

We are not a greedy group. We do not seek the killing of the fatted calf. We do not seek any more than that to which we are entitled. We only seek restoration of our eroded entitlements. As a pointer to how I and many thousands of others feel, I would like to stress that I come under the Veterans' Entitlement Act - not the Veterans' Charity Act.

I look forward to an early reply and action from you.

Yours faithfully,

John King

Qld 4215