William Bourke, President of the Sustainable Australia Party, points out the ‘big lie’ in the latest Intergenerational Report.
Mr Bourke points out, ‘according to the IGR’s central economic assumption, you are apparently working (and paying taxes) if you are 15-64 years of age. Conversely, you are not working (or paying taxes) if you are 65 and above.’
He says the IGR authors at the Federal Treasury have clearly not left the 20th century and believes what actually matters is what portion of the population is working, not what portion is 65 and above.
‘This tricky and obsolete ‘working age’ assumption in the IGR, upon which the whole report hangs, will be endlessly spun by politicians, activists and the media in coming days, weeks and months.’
‘Yet as any economics 101 student – often 19 and studying full time for the next few years – should know, there is an inconvenient truth here: Age does not determine workforce participation.’