Federal Budget 2017: Scott Morrison plays on ‘better days ahead’ theme
COMMENT: In a bid to restore faith with voters, the Treasurer has lifted the lid on a Budget centred on a fair go for battlers.
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TREASURER Scott Morrison has lifted the lid on a Budget centred on a fair go for battlers, the dream of owning a home and jobs for Aussies first.
In a bid to restore faith with voters, Mr Morrison’s Budget taps into everyday frustrations with banks, cost-of-living pressures and the value Australians place on their iconic Medicare scheme.
As much a move to restore voters’ faith as it is a thrust to blunt Labor and One Nation attacks, the Budget also junks $13 billion in so-called “zombie” measures, in a high-taxing, big-spending infrastructure plan that’s betting on “better days ahead”.
About $21 billion will be raised in new taxes, including a $6.2 billion grab from the big banks and $8 billion from increasing the Medicare levy from 2 per cent to 2.5 per cent from next financial year.
The cash raised from the Medicare levy will go directly towards plugging the massive financial hole to funding the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Meanwhile, pensioners will win back their concession cards to help them get cheaper services from the states and seniors who downsize from their family homes will be able to divert a non-concessional contribution of up to $300,000 into their superannuation from sale proceeds.
As well as a shake-up to how low-cost housing is funded, a First Home Super Savers Scheme will allow prospective homeowners to park pre-tax earnings in their superannuation accounts to save for a deposit.
A whopping $10 billion health package unfreezes Medicare rebates – some of which have been in place for 20 years – and offers cheaper drugs as well as more cash for public hospitals to tackle elective surgery waiting lists.
Scarred by a political near-death experience at the election just weeks after Mr Morrison’s previous Budget, this is unashamedly populist, optimistic, and designed to blunt Labor’s attacks.
It is also the first Budget since the election of US President Donald Trump and the latest resurgence of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, and so promises jobs for Aussies first and acknowledges battlers are struggling despite working hard.
“For many years now as our economy has gone thought major changes, Australians have had to dig deep to keep our economy on the right track,’’ Mr Morrison said in his Budget speech.
“Many remain frustrated at not getting ahead ... this Budget is about making the right choices to secure the better days ahead.”
Among the big-ticket changes is a new tax to be levied on the employers of certain types of foreign workers, with the proceeds funnelled into a $1.2 billion Skilling Australians Fund that promises to train an additional 300,000 tradies over four years.
Welfare will receive its biggest shake-up in generations, with seven existing payments being consolidated into one new Jobseeker payment.
From 2020 it will replace payments including Newstart, the Sickness Allowance, Wife Pension and the Partner Allowance. The Government also plans to trial drug testing of welfare recipients for the first time, and will get tough on those who fail to legitimately try to find work.
In a measure that shows the strength of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce in the Cabinet room, a $75 billion, 10-year infrastructure fund will be established.
About $8.4 billion will be provided to the Australian Rail Track Corporation, which will also use private partnerships to help deliver an inland rail line between Brisbane and Melbourne. For Mr Joyce, it will be his legacy for regional Australia.
Mr Morrison said next financial year would be the first time since the global financial crisis that the Government did not need to borrow money to fund recurrent spending.
He projected a $7.4 billion surplus by 2020-21, and the economy to grow by 3 per cent in 2018-19.
Mining, tourism and education is expected to help grow the economy. Unemployment is expected to be lower by 2018-19 at 5.50 per cent.
Mr Morrison said: “This is a Budget that makes the right choices for Australians who are working hard to secure the better days ahead for themselves and their families.”
Originally published as Federal Budget 2017: Scott Morrison plays on ‘better days ahead’ theme
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