Peoples Republic ofWan Mingwu (R), Director and Vice-President of China Eastern, hands a model of a China Eastern plane to Australian MP John Brumby, during a news conference in Shanghai December 5, 2003. China Eastern, the mainland's second-largest carri
Peoples Republic ofWan Mingwu (R), Director and Vice-President of China Eastern, hands amodel of a China Eastern plane to Australian MP John Brumby, during anews conference in Shanghai December 5, 2003. China Eastern, themainland's second-largest carrier by passenger numbers, announced a newShanghai-Melbourne flight which will be inaugurated on December 15.REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV
Peoples Republic ofWan Mingwu (R), Director and Vice-President of China Eastern, hands a model of a China Eastern plane to Australian MP John Brumby, during a news conference in Shanghai December 5, 2003. China Eastern, the mainland's second-largest carrier by passenger numbers, announced a new Shanghai-Melbourne flight which will be inaugurated on December 15. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV

The entitlement mentality is something that many politicians share globally, whether they are in the U.S. Congress, Japanese Diet or Australian Parliament. They would fight tooth and nail to continue enjoying freebies - at the expense of taxpayers' money - despite moves to curb their excesses.

One good example is in Australia where former federal MPs have threatened to pursue a High Court challenge if the federal government would remove their lifetime "gold pass' travel perks. These consists of 10 free two-way airfares within Australia every 12 months. The freebie is enjoyed by MPs and senators who were elected before 2012.

It has actually been clipped in May when the Abbott government abolished the lifetime Golden Pass of 100 former MPs covering business class domestic tickets. In lieu, former ministers, presiding officers and opposition leaders would get 10 round-trip tickets a year for six years, while long-serving backbenchers gets five free tickets for three years.

By 2020, all former and serving MPs would lose the perk totally, except ex-prime ministers.

Parliament has proposed removing the entitlements, but the Association of Former Members of the Parliament of Australia accused the government of "symbolic tokenism" based on "political whim and expediency."

Murray Sainsbury, president of the association, in a formal submission to a Senate inquiry, said, "The truth is that previous political manipulations [of] salaries and entitlements ... have invariably been driven by incumbent prime ministers for perceived political advantage."

The comment was published at the Senate's Web site on Friday but was removed over the weekend as requested by the association.

The former legislators insist the removing the entitlements goes against the charter since it is equivalent to "unjust acquisition of property." They stressed that the benefit "was a term and condition of parliamentary remuneration."

The association reckoned the government would save only $1 million annually over the next five years if the free gold pass would be removed, but it could incur a higher if the association wins its High Court challenge. They justified the perks because during their terms they lived on "lower than justified salaries."

The Life Gold Pass started as a rail pass in 1918.

YouTube/Paul Fletcher 2013