PM warns on ageing population
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, used his first public address of 2010 to warn of the costs of an ageing population.
Speaking at a Melbourne function yesterday, the first of a nationwide swing around Australia Day on 26 January, he said that productivity would have to rise from the working population to pay for the growing, ageing, population.
However his speech revealed that the overall rise in Australia’s population meant that the proportion of the population over 65 will rise to only 23% rather than the 25.3% forecast previously.
This means that there will be one person of retirement age for every 2.7 people working.
The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, will release an updated Intergenerational Report in the next few weeks, which will provide more detailed information on the costs and challenges of the ageing population.
