Tax hikes off the table for budget repair

The COVID-19 lockdown has hit everyone's hip pocket and blown a multi-billion dollar blackhole in the budget. But there is some good news as Scott Morrison reveals his COVID tax plan as well as how and when the Australia’s economy will recover.

AUSSIES will not be slapped with higher taxes or massive austerity measures to repair the budget which has had hundreds of billions of dollars ripped from it by the COVID crisis, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

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But he warned stimulus like JobKeeper payments would not last forever, fearing businesses’ entrepreneurial spirit will atrophy if they continue to rely on subsidies to get by.

A plan to slash green tape to get significant private projects up and running faster was also flagged.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will not increase taxes to pay for the COVID-19 budget blackhole. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

It was part of his CEDA State of the Nation speech yesterday in which he announced 15 major projects would be fast-tracked through halving their approval times, including the Inland Rail.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that it is expected to take two years to get Australia’s economic back to the level it was pre-COVID, with more than $100 billion of activity lost this year alone.

“It will take us an estimated two years at least, just to get back to the level we were at pre COVID-19,” he said.

“That’s why we have a plan to lift growth, not just for the next few months, but the next five years.”

But he said after hundreds of billions of dollars had been ripped from the budget and there was a tough job ahead to rein in spending and boost revenue through getting people back into work.

“Neither excessive austerity, nor higher taxes are the path that our Government will pursue,” he said.

Green tape will be slashed to get major projects approved faster, with the government aiming to cut approval times for the said the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation act from 40 days to 30 days.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says the government has promised to bring forward the Inland Rail for seven years. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese questioned the government’s ability to bring back projects, pointing to the often delayed Inland Rail.

“The number of times I’ve heard a bring-forward of the inland rail line over the last seven years,” he said.

“I first heard it immediately after the 2013 election that was announced but it hasn’t actually led to anything happening on the ground.”