Strong opposition has risen up against an SA Government plan to cut pensioner concessions on Council rates.

South Australia’s Liberal Opposition has joined the Greens, Family First and Independents in efforts to block any change to pensioner concessions in the Legislative Council.

The SA Labor Government wants to scrap pensioner concessions on Council rates for a saving of $32.4 million. The proposal was made in response to a Federal cut of $27.7 million in funding for concessions.

The change would slug pensioners for an extra $190 per year, or $100 for self-funded retirees and other concession card holders.

SA’s Local Government Association says it has received legal advice that regulations would need to be changed for the State to cut the concessions.

“While the Government has yet to introduce any associated regulation into the Parliament, if the State Government determines to go down that path, we will fully support the initiative by the Liberals, Greens, Family First and Independents to disallow the regulations,” said LGA President, Mayor David O’Loughlin.

“The Association has copped some flak for speaking out on behalf of pensioners. I make no apology for that,” he said.

“Putting heat on politicians in the interests of communities is what we do – and we thank Steven Marshall [SA State Liberal Leader] for responding to our campaign and finding one possible solution to the problem, which is to disallow any changes to regulations which would permit the Government to scrap concessions for pensioners, part pensioners and self-funded retirees.

“The Disallowance Motion, when passed by Legislative Council, would put the ball right back into State Government hands. Under current Parliamentary procedure, the Government could reintroduce the regulations the next sitting day just for the process to repeat itself. It will be Groundhog Day on North Terrace.

“We will not resile from launching future campaigns for issues or budget cuts that impact negatively on our communities,” Mayor O'Loughlin said.