Pension change a deal with the devil:Labor

Labor's Jason Clare believes the Greens might regret the pension deal it has struck with the Abbott government.

Money is taken out of a purse Canberra

Bill Shorten won't speculate on whether Labor will reverse pension changes if it wins government. (AAP)

Labor frontbencher Jason Clare has accused the Greens of doing a "deal with the devil" by backing government changes to the pension.

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale last week struck a deal with Social Services Minister Scott Morrison that will guarantee the safe passage of pension asset test changes through the Senate that will save $2.4 billion.

It will reduce pension payments for 235,756 seniors, cut 91,378 people from the part-pension and give 171,658 retirees more money.

"The Greens have done a deal with the devil," Mr Clare told Sky News on Sunday.

He said it will be interesting to see what the Greens base makes of that, remembering what happened to the Democrats after striking a deal with the former Howard government over the introduction of the GST.

Senator Di Natale said his focus wasn't on Labor when making the agreement, it was on ensuring that people have a decent retirement income.

He said he has a "pretty simple philosophy".

"It's looking at each issue, look at the merits of the case that people put in front of you. If the policy's a step in the right direction, you support it," he told ABC television.

But Labor says the change is unfair and says it will hold Prime Minister Tony Abbott accountable for breaking an election promise that he wouldn't make cuts to pensions.

"This is a matter of trust," Mr Clare said.

"This is a broken promise and is unfair, it hurts people on relatively low incomes."

Asked if Labor would reinstate the old pension assets test threshold, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told ABC television: "We don't believe we've lost yet".


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Source: AAP


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