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I was astounded to read of NSW Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet's attack on the aged pension, for it shows a total lack of any sort of understanding of how the system works, and what it is supposed to do.
“The generosity of the age pension had reduced the incentive to have children to support oneself in old age,” Mr Perrottet said (Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, July 1).
“There is no doubt the meddling hand of big government is once again at work,” he told the Centre for Independent Studies.
“Countries with large pension systems tend to struggle with fertility.”
Meanwhile, payments to single parents had made divorce an easier option and contributed to family breakdowns.
His views contradict the findings of a study by three Austrian economists in 2013, titled "Does the Welfare State Destroy the Family? Evidence from OECD Member Countries".
The economists found the welfare state supported family formation."
In a wide-ranging airing of his views, the new finance minister also slammed the ABC and spending on climate change policies in his speech.
"In practice, the ABC is simply a mouthpiece for left of centre views and becoming more disconnected from the values of mainstream Australia."
Greens NSW Family and Community Services spokesperson Jan Barham said: "Minister Perrottet's comments linking welfare to family breakdown and declining fertility aren't supported by the evidence and only serve to stigmatise people the government should be supporting.
Greens NSW Finance spokesperson John Kaye said: "Apart from a frightening absence of empathy for the plight of children in single parent homes and the elderly who are struggling to make ends meet, the most alarming aspect of the Minister's speech was his failure to respond to evidence.
Others have pointed out what many would see as the “bleeding obvious”, namely that in an already overpopulated world we need to stabilise and then reduce population growth if humanity is to survive on our planet’s limited resources.
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