Gina Rinehart backs Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie’s return-to-work plan for pensioners

Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie wants to make it easier for seniors and grey nomads to earn a wage – and her plan’s received a billion-dollar backing. What do you think?

Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has backed plans to encourage thousands of pensioners and “grey nomads” to return to work and fill critical workforce shortages.

Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie is spearheading a new push to create an opt-in scheme that would either increase or remove the income-test threshold for pensioners with limited savings.

Ms Sharkie moved a motion in the lower house on Monday morning in attempts to ignite serious talks about the plan at next month’s Skills Summit in Canberra.

“We know that there are many people who are in their 60s who are receiving the pension, who are fit and active and want to work,” she said.

Ms Sharkie urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to take measures in the October federal budget to remove onerous paperwork and make it financially viable for pensioners to work at their own pace.

Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie moved the motion in parliament on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Under current rules, pensioners with no other income or assets lose half of every dollar they earn above $490 a fortnight. Ms Sharkie supports scrapping the threshold altogether, or at least doubling it.

Just 3 per cent of Australia’s pensioners participate in the workforce, compared with 25 per cent in New Zealand, where they are not charged with penalties beyond income tax.

“It’s just not worth it at the moment for an Australian pensioner,” Ms Sharkie said. “To me, pension is not welfare, it is an entitlement.”

Ms Rinehart, a mining magnate with a net worth of $28.8bn, labelled Ms Sharkie’s plan a “win-win-win-win” that would boost the country’s economy.

“This policy would be … good for pensioners and veterans who deserve the right at least as much as all of us to work if we chose without onerous paperwork,” she said.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart backed Ms Sharkie’s plans.

National Farmers Federation President Fiona Simson said the scheme would be hugely popular among grey nomads – retired Australians travelling the country in caravans – who could plug workforce shortages on farms.

“The good thing about agriculture and grey nomads is that it allows them to work at their own pace,” Ms Simson said.

“Quite often in the peak of the harvest season, that day here and day there is really valuable to the farmers, because it means they can actually get the fruit into the containers and into the shed.”

The plan has also been supported by National Seniors Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations and independent MPs Dai Le and Helen Haines.

“We need to change this so the system rewards, not punishes them,” National Seniors chief advocate Ian Henschke said.

Business SA called for a similar scheme during the federal election campaign.

Mr Chalmers has been contacted for comment.

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