Squeeze angers pensioner

PENSIONER Bill Van Breda says people like him are coming to the end of their financial tether.

Pensioner Bill Van Breda is angry over continual rate increases and says he wants something done about it. Picture: Max Fleet

PENSIONER Bill Van Breda says people like him are coming to the end of their financial tether.

Mr Van Breda said constant cost-of-living increases, including council rates, meant pensioners were finding it impossible to pay their bills.

“My rates last year went up 20%,” he said.

“This year they will go up again.”

Mr Van Breda said there were thousands of people in the Bundaberg region living on pensions or welfare payments, and many in the Wide Bay region were homeless.

“I’ve seen about 15 of them at a nearby shopping centre putting down cardboard and sleeping on it,” he said.

Mr Van Breda said he and his wife were getting to the stage where they were finding it very difficult to pay their bills and stay in their house.

“People on a very basic pension can’t afford to pay rate rises,” he said.

“We need some help.”

Mr Van Breda said he had been to meetings of Bundaberg Regional Council and tried to talk to some of the councillors, but he got no joy.

“They listen, but they don’t listen,” he said.

The pensioner said he had become so worried about the situation he had had a meeting with Member for Bundaberg Jack Dempsey.

Mr Dempsey said yesterday he was sympathetic to Mr Van Breda’s plight, but it was a problem many people faced.

He said he knew the council had a small rebate system for pensioners in place, but with the number of seniors in the region more measures were needed.

“We need to find a way where they can maintain their quality of life and stay in the community,” the MP said.

A council spokeswoman said if anyone had difficulty paying their rates, they should contact the council’s debt administration to discuss options.

Originally published as Squeeze angers pensioner