Joe Hockey defends his ‘fair’ budget, but Labor says it is ‘pathetic’

JOE Hockey says those who believe his first budget is “unfair” are engaging in 1970s class welfare, sparking a war of words with Labor.

Treasurer of Australia Joe Hockey speaks at the ANZAC Research Institute in Concord, Sydney. Picture: Craig Wilson

LABOR has hit back at Joe Hockey’s defence of his “fair” budget, instead describing it as “pathetic” and the Treasurer himself a “massive hypocrite”.

A month after handing down his first budget, Mr Hockey last night argued those who believe it is “unfair” are engaging in 1970s class welfare.

Responding to his critics in a speech to The Sydney Institute, he also revealed Australians are working a month each year to pay for the welfare of others.

COMMENT BELOW: Is Joe Hockey waging class warfare?

The government will spend on average $6000 on welfare for every Australian this year, he said.

“Given that only around 45 per cent of the population pays income tax, the average taxpayer must pay more than twice this amount in tax to fund welfare expenditure.”

“The average working Australian ... is working over one month full time each year just to pay for the welfare of another Australia.”

“It is a very fair budget,” he went on to tell ABC Radio this morning.

“So much of what we are doing is about building fairness into the system and giving the people the opportunity to have a fair go in life.”

“Whether it be in our changes in health where we’re going to build the biggest medical research fund in the world, be it in higher education where we are going to extend opportunity to 80,000 young Australians to go to university or undertake courses for the first time, or be it in infrastructure that everyone benefits from.”

But Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen rejected Mr Hockey’s claim that the government’s budget is fair.

“It was a pretty pathetic attempt to defend a pathetic budget last night from the Treasurer,” he told ABC Radio.

“His rhetoric contradicts what this budget is actually doing,” Mr Bowen added, citing the introduction of “a massive social welfare scheme” in the form of the Paid Parental Leave scheme.

Former Treasurer Wayne Swan declared on Twitter that rather Mr Hockey is the “only person waging class war”.

The only person waging class war is Hockey with his lifters and leaners and intergenerational warfare against the young #delusional

— Wayne Swan (@SwannyQLD) June 11, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: The only person waging class war is Hockey with his lifters and leaners and intergenerational warfare against the young #delusional— Wayne Swan (@SwannyQLD) June 11, 2014

ACTU President Ged Kearney responded to his revelation that a month’s pay of the average worker goes towards the welfare of others.

'@JoeHockey says 1month's pay goes 2welfare? How much for mining's fuel rebate, negative gearing, high end super concessions?#givemeabreak

— Ged Kearney (@GedKACTU) June 11, 2014

Sub-type: comment CAPTION: '@JoeHockey says 1month's pay goes 2welfare? How much for mining's fuel rebate, negative gearing, high end super concessions?#givemeabreak— Ged Kearney (@GedKACTU) June 11, 2014

Originally published as Joe Hockey defends his ‘fair’ budget, but Labor says it is ‘pathetic’