Their words and body language said it all.
Overheard two recent retirees say that if more asylum seekers were allowed easy access to Australia, then their pensions and associated entitlements might have to be reduced.
Their anger and hostility towards the federal government was palpable and very loud.
The hip pocket nerve has clearly come into play with many older Australians now worried about their own standard of living being reduced because of the rapidly rising cost of housing and feeding sea-borne asylum seekers.
A nerve which threatens to blow the Gillard ALP (minority) government out of the water come election time.
And older voters - a rapidly growing demographic - are more likely to vote than not, a fact which I am certain will not be lost on either of the two major political parties.
MICHAEL J GAMBLE
Belmont