Michael Johnsen and The Nationals have unfairly excluded seniors in Singleton on disability and carers pensions from the $250 Regional Seniors Travel Card that they were promised.
The $250 card was spruiked by the Nationals during the 2019 State Election as a way to help support seniors in the bush access affordable transport, however, it is now clear that only seniors in receipt of the Aged Pension are able to apply, leaving some of the neediest and most vulnerable seniors in regional communities without access to the $250 scheme.
Labor Shadow Minister for Seniors and the Cost of Living, Jo Haylen said: “It is simply unacceptable that seniors living in Singleton who are on the disability support pension or who are carers aren’t eligible for the scheme.
“So many people are missing out, this just isn’t the same card the Nationals’ promised during the election.”
“Michael Johnsen needs to explain why seniors with disability aren’t able to access these scheme, and why he thinks carers shouldn’t be able to apply, either.”
The card was released later than promised, has to be applied for online, and is critically underfunded by $135 million over three years, meaning that over half of eligible seniors may miss out. Entire communities in the Blue Mountains, Hunter and Central Coast and Illawarra are missing out because they are deemed to be in “metropolitan” regions.
Ms Haylen has written to the NSW Electoral Commission asking that the misleading language used by the Nationals in campaign material during the 2019 election, be investigated.