Government retirees will have to wait a little longer to receive their long-awaited pension increases after inaccuracies uncovered during an internal audit delayed the payments.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. Natalio Wheatley issued an apology to pensioners during the Talking Points radio programme on Monday evening, acknowledging that the payments would not be made within the timeframe he had previously announced.
During his recent State of the Territory Address, Dr. Wheatley assured retirees that the pension increases would be paid before the end of June with the adjustment being backdated to January 2026, ending years of anticipation. However, on Monday he said an internal review found errors that must be corrected before the payments can be processed.
“Let me first apologise to the government retirees,” Dr. Wheatley said on Monday.
He explained that Cabinet approved the pension increase of over $6M last week after receiving a recommendation from the committee established to review the matter. However, the Financial Secretary subsequently advised Cabinet that an internal audit had identified inaccuracies in some of the calculations.
“We just have to ensure that whatever mistakes were made in terms of some of the calculations that were discovered by internal audit are corrected so that those payments can be made as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Premier said the government appreciated the internal audit process, noting that it helped identify the issues before payments were made.
“We're grateful for the internal audit review of the information because we remember what happened, of course, with the raise to the government workers,” he said, referring to previous payroll issues.
Dr. Wheatley also reminded retirees that funding for the pension increases had been allocated in the 2026 Budget from the start of the year.
He explained that a committee co-chaired by the Deputy Governor and the Financial Secretary, and which included representatives of government retirees, spent months reviewing the matter before submitting its recommendations.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. Natalio Wheatley issued an apology to pensioners during the Talking Points radio programme on Monday evening, acknowledging that the payments would not be made within the timeframe he had previously announced.
During his recent State of the Territory Address, Dr. Wheatley assured retirees that the pension increases would be paid before the end of June with the adjustment being backdated to January 2026, ending years of anticipation. However, on Monday he said an internal review found errors that must be corrected before the payments can be processed.
“Let me first apologise to the government retirees,” Dr. Wheatley said on Monday.
He explained that Cabinet approved the pension increase of over $6M last week after receiving a recommendation from the committee established to review the matter. However, the Financial Secretary subsequently advised Cabinet that an internal audit had identified inaccuracies in some of the calculations.
“We just have to ensure that whatever mistakes were made in terms of some of the calculations that were discovered by internal audit are corrected so that those payments can be made as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Premier said the government appreciated the internal audit process, noting that it helped identify the issues before payments were made.
“We're grateful for the internal audit review of the information because we remember what happened, of course, with the raise to the government workers,” he said, referring to previous payroll issues.
Dr. Wheatley also reminded retirees that funding for the pension increases had been allocated in the 2026 Budget from the start of the year.
He explained that a committee co-chaired by the Deputy Governor and the Financial Secretary, and which included representatives of government retirees, spent months reviewing the matter before submitting its recommendations.
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