Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 429
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on a friendly, first name basis.
She was a typical example of the "DJ's" ladies--the women in black dresses, with a superior manner, who had served my mother on shopping expeditions to David Jones department stores. In her early sixties, her silver hair was well groomed; her clothes simple but fashionable.
She walked confidently into my office, shook my hands firmly, and introduced herself as "Miss Smith", with an insistent stress on the "Miss". I drew up a chair, and she sat down, poised to present her case.
Her service with David Jones had been extended several years beyond the normal retiring age, but finally they had put her off and she had applied for the old age pension. At the same time, to reduce expenses, she had sought cheaper accommodation.
An arrangement had been negotiated with an elderly gentleman friend; whereby she would share his large house, free of rent, as a companion.
"Of course, there was no question of us living as man and wife", she said, with very round vowels.
However, the Department of Social Security had sent an inspector to investigate her domestic situation. A report had been made which concluded that there was a de facto relationship between Miss Smith and her gentleman friend. This she emphatically denied. There were two scales of the pension: one rate