To the Honourable the President and Members of the Senate in Parliament Assembled:

The Petition of the Undersigned shows that we believe that the current Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme provides benefits to retired members which are overly generous and unfair.

Your petitioners ask the Senate to call on the Australian Government to:

Act swiftly to bring the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme in line with community standards by:

(1) Reducing the taxpayer subsidy which currently stands at an average of $6 contributed by taxpayers for every $1 contributed by Senators and members;

(2) Instructing the Remuneration Tribunal to substantially reduce benefits;

(3) Removing the early payment of benefits, so that they are payable at the age of 55 in line with the rest of the community;

(4) Supporting the Australian Democrats' Private Members' Bill to overhaul the politicians' superannuation scheme to achieve these aims.