• Advertise
  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
Saturday, May 21, 2022
Australian Times News
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
Australian Times News
No Result
View All Result
Home News

First Abbott budget shares the pain

Pensioners, the sick, students and high-income earners will all bear the brunt of the Abbott government's first budget.

Paul Osborne by Paul Osborne
13-05-2014 12:15
in News

The Abbott government will impose a $7 charge for GP visits, provide lower pension rises and hike income tax for people earning over $180,000 in a bid to get the budget back into the black.

Treasurer Joe Hockey’s first budget sets a course to slash by half Labor’s $123 billion deficit over the next four years.

The budget forecasts a deficit of $29.8 billion for 2014/15, trimmed back to a $17.1 billion deficit the following year.

“My view is you fix the roof while the sun is shining and if we do not contribute now then the pain associated with budget repair is going to be far greater in the future,” Mr Hockey said.

Federal funding for schools and hospitals will be slashed by $80 billion over the decade, as agreements with the states and territories – including Gonski – are wound down.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the budget had broken the coalition’s election promises that there would be no new taxes or tax rises, no cuts to education or health and no changes to pensions.

“It is a budget built on Tony Abbott’s act of mass deceit,” Mr Bowen said.

AlsoRead...

May's Weather Forecast

Weather Forecast 21 May 2022

21 May 2022
Where to vote

Where to vote: Australians can now vote by phone and post

20 May 2022

Mr Hockey said the coalition had reduced taxes compared to what they would have been under Labor.

From July 1 next year previously bulk-billed patients – including children and pensioners – will pay $7 per visit including out-of-hospital X-rays and pathology.

But $5 from the charge, as well as a lift in the price of medicines, will go towards a new $20 billion medical research fund.

Mr Hockey said patients should make a modest contribution towards their cost.

To drive jobs, the government will add $11.6 billion in funding for roads, funded partly by the reintroduction of six-monthly petrol tax hikes from August 1 and $5 billion from state asset sales.

About 800,000 businesses will benefit from a 1.5 per cent cut in corporate tax from July next year, but the government will cut $845 million from industry handouts.

Pensioners can expect less in their pockets from September 2017, when rises are indexed to inflation rather than wages.

Mr Hockey said this kept the coalition’s election pledge not to touch pensions this term, but would make them sustainable.

The pension age will gradually lift to 70 by 2035.

Business will get a $10,000 bonus for employing jobless over-50s.

To get spending under control, growth in the foreign aid budget will be cut by $7.9 billion over five years and 16,500 public servants will be shed.

Freezing family assistance rates for two years and limiting Family Tax Benefit part B to families with children under six, as well as other tightening of family payments, will save $6.9 billion over four years.

In a bid to get all young people “earning or learning”, from 2015 unemployed people under 25 will get Youth Allowance, not Newstart, and there will be a six-month waiting period for under-30s to get the dole.

Universities will be able to set their own tuition fees from 2016, but this won’t affect those already in the system and the fees won’t need to be repaid until a student is working and earning over $50,000 a year.

Stopping the boats and closing nine immigration detention centres is set to save $2.5 billion.

Mr Hockey challenged the opposition to support all of the budget measures in parliament.

Mr Bowen said Labor would be “constructive when it comes to the national interest”.

The jobless rate is expected to stay around 6.25 per cent for the next two years, while economic growth is forecast to average 2.5 per cent in 2014/15.

Tags: Australia budgetAustralian economyAustralian politicsNews in Australiapolitics
DMCA.com Protection Status

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER

[mc4wp_form id=”2384248″]

Don't Miss

Horoscopes: 21 May 2022 – Saturday

by Adamu
21 May 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 21 May 2022

by Adamu
21 May 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more

Tom Cruise was honored at the Cannes Film Festival without Kidman

by Shannon Alexander
20 May 2022
Tom Cruise
Lifestyle

Tom Cruise was recently honored at the Cannes Film Festival. Notably though, Nicole Kidman was missing from his video tribute.

Read more

Ed Sheeran announces the birth of his second child

by Shannon Alexander
20 May 2022
Ed Sheeran
Lifestyle

Ed Sheeran and his wife has welcomed another baby girl into the world. The ecstatic parents shared their exciting new...

Read more

Where to vote: Australians can now vote by phone and post

by Shannon Alexander
20 May 2022
Where to vote
News

Australians have been very distressed in knowing where to vote but those who have tested positive for covid can now...

Read more

Harrys House finally dropped and As it Was set the tone for it

by Shannon Alexander
20 May 2022
Harry's House
Lifestyle

Harrys House is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Apart from Kendrick Lamar’s fifth album, Harry is...

Read more

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky welcome their first child in the world!

by Shannon Alexander
20 May 2022
Rihanna
Lifestyle

Rihanna, the Fenty founder announced her pregnancy in January this year. Sources close to the couple share their baby boy...

Read more
Load More

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status

  • About us
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • T&Cs, Privacy and GDPR
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status