Workers the winners, nothing for homebuyers in Federal Budget

TASMANIAN low and middle income earners are the major beneficiaries of this year’s Federal Budget, as Treasurer Scott Morrison made a pitch directly to the wallets of middle Australia.

Working Australians benefit most from this budget, as do pensioners, but there is little for the young, first homebuyers or welfare recipients.

TASMANIAN low and middle income earners are the major beneficiaries of this year’s Federal Budget, as Treasurer Scott Morrison handed down a seven-year plan to abolish bracket creep.

The Treasurer’s modest largesse amounts to a boost of around $10 a week in the pockets of most workers — and the promise of more to come in the years ahead.

“Taxpayers with an income between $48,000 and $90,000 will receive the maximum tax relief of $530,” Mr Morrison said.

“For middle income households with both parents working on average wages, this will boost their ‘kitchen table’ budget by more than $1000 every year.”

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As a lump sum, that’s enough to cover the car rego and a typical family quarterly power bill.

Mr Morrison pitched a restrained pre-election budget straight to middle Australia which contained few surprises after the key measures were steadily revealed over recent weeks.

There was little cheer in the budget for the many Tasmanian households who rely on government payments — and a promise of even an tougher crackdown on welfare fraud to reap $300 million.

Calls for an increase to the Newstart allowance have fallen on deaf ears, although pensioners will be allowed to earn an additional $1300 a year without affecting their payments.

There were measures to help keep older Australians in their own homes longer, a boost for aged care in rural, regional and remote areas and new health checks for older Australians.

Small businesses benefitted from the extension of popular instant asset write-off.

It was not a budget for first homebuyers. Housing affordability did not rate a mention in Mr Morrison’s budget speech and there were no new major measures to tackle the issue and no changes to the negative gearing of investment properties.

Mr Morrison promised that should the Coalition retain power the overwhelming majority of PAYE taxpayers would face a marginal tax rate no higher than 32.5 per cent from 2024-25.

But taxpayers would be well advised not to count on that money just yet: the full plan is implemented over seven years, during which time the outcomes of at least two federal elections have the potential to derail the best-laid plans of a government currently struggling in opinion polls.

Tax relief was the highlight for workers though. The Budget forecast continuing flat wages growth of between 2.25 and 2.27 per cent, rising to 3.25 per cent in 2019-20 — barely more than the forecast for CPI increases during the same period.

Aside from income tax cuts, the best news in the budget was for Tasmanian motorists.

Funding continues for the long-term Midland Highway upgrade and the $461 million in funding for the Bridgewater Bridge replacement and the $400 million Tasmanian roads package were revealed by the Mercury on Monday.

New in the Budget was the delivery of money to tackle Hobart’s ongoing congestion problems.

Mr Morrison announced a new national $1 billion Urban Congestion Fund, of which Tasmania was accorded a small share of $4 million, starting from 2019-20.