Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan’s Budget fails Tasmanian families and businesses.
“This Budget fails to ease the burden on Tasmanians who are facing higher cost of living expenses every day,” Senator Colbeck said on behalf of the Tasmanian Liberal Senate Team.
“Cost of living pressures on Tasmanian families are amongst the highest in Australia, yet this Government is going to hurt them further by freezing the indexation of family tax payments and income thresholds for three years.
“This is a cut in real terms of $2 billion in Australian families’ benefits.
“This will do nothing to help Tasmanian families with basics like rising petrol prices, electricity and gas costs, groceries, health care and mortgage repayments.
“This is the first budget in eight years that does not have tax cuts for everyday Australians. The Government is hurting families because it has failed to reign in its spending.
“The Government has had a blow out of $1.75 billion on asylum seeker management and will take $2 billion from Australian families benefits to cover it.
“In Tasmania this Government has failed to deliver full funding for the North West Regional cancer centre, yet it has found $14.8 million to convert the Pontville barracks to a detention centre.
“This is a weak and directionless government.
“Tasmanian businesses are also in the firing line, with new arrangements for taxing company cars that will hurt small business operators, tradesmen, farmers, the taxi and hire car industry with increased costs at a time when they’re already doing it tough.
“Without the carbon tax, revenue figures are wrong. Expenditure figures are wrong. Forecasts for inflation, economic growth and unemployment are wrong.
“All this Budget delivers is more tax, more debt and more deficit – and that’s even without the carbon tax.
“Without the carbon tax, this Budget is not worth the paper it is written on,” Senator Colbeck said.
Tasmanian Liberal Senate Team
