POLICY FOCUS OF THE PLP ON MIDDLE AGED AND OLDER ONES

It is important to make sure that the young people in the country are properly trained and that they are inculcated in the values that we all want he society at large to have.  We should ensure that they have a safe and productive happy life in a tolerant, violence free society. The policy focus on them is appropriate.  However it is also important to look not just at the longer term but the near term.  That near term is the election in 2006.  Who will make up the bulk of the voters that the PLP needs to attract in order to succeed in 2026?  If we are reading the census data correctly, that is the middle aged and older population.  The median age of the country is now 35.  The largest birth cohort is threatening to become those over 65.  It seems to us that the PLP ought to be designing policies that will persuade that group, the 35 to 60, and those over 65 that the PLP is the best for the country and has the best mix of policies in their favour.  We suggest for example, exempting all persons over 65 from real property tax.  We think that work permit fees for caretakers for those over 65 should be cut in half. We believe that focus on dementia should be a priority in the health care system  Then we ought to show them that we are taking are of their children and grandchildren.  A different way of thinking about things.