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3 May, 2014

Australian retirement age rise to 70 by 2035 – Sydney Morning Herald

Australians born after 1965 will have to work until they are 70 before they are eligible for the age pension, Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced, as he warned there was “no such thing” as a free visit to a doctor or free welfare.

Mr Hockey confirmed on Friday that while nobody currently on the pension would be hit by a rise in the pension age, the Abbott government would raise the retirement age in coming years.

Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed the change on Friday morning. The Treasurer called on the Labor opposition to offer bipartisan support for the move. In what is expected to be his final major speech before handing down his first federal budget on May 13, Mr Hockey said the Coalition would deliver a document that is “not going to be an austerity budget, but it is going to be a prudent budget” which would prepare Australia for the demographic challenges posed by an ageing population.

Read the rest: Retirement age rise to 70 by 2035, Joe Hockey announces.