Federal budget: Government remains committed to stalled welfare savings, tax cuts for big business
Updated
The Federal Government is re-committing to tax cuts for Australia's biggest businesses and a range of stalled welfare savings as it finalises this year's federal budget.
Key points:
- Morrison says plan to extend 5 per cent tax cut to all businesses remains key priority
- Morrison refuses to say if tax increases will be needed to return to budget balance in 2021
- ACOSS says it is time to abandon stalled welfare savings measures
Last week the Government secured enough support in the Senate to give a tax cut to businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said the rest of the Government's 10-year plan, to extend a 5 per cent tax cut to all Australian businesses, remained a key priority.
"We need to ensure our tax system is competitive to keep the jobs, to keep the wages and to keep the growth," he said.
Mr Morrison said his number one goal for the May budget was economic growth, but he would not be drawn on whether any tax increases would be necessary to meet the projected return to a budget balance in 2021.
"What is obvious is that we've got to grow the economy, we've got to continue to consolidate the budget, deliver the services that Australians rely on and put downward pressure on the cost of living for Australian families and businesses," he said.
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) said there were obvious ways to increase revenue that should be considered by the Government.
"Negative gearing, capital gains discount, the arrangements associated with family trusts, work deductions — all of these arrangements, these tax concessions which have been operating to reduce people's effective tax rate, these have to be looked at very seriously," chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
The Federal Opposition has not yet said if it would retain the tax cut passed by the Senate last week if it wins government at the next election.
"We won't do the sort of policy on the run which the Government has engaged in this week," shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said.
The dispute has set up a protracted political debate around the themes of inequality and budget management.
Coalition needs to 'put zombie measures away': ACOSS
Social Services Minister Christian Porter also confirmed the Government remained committed to billions of dollars in welfare savings that do not have enough support to pass Parliament.
Some of the measures date back to the 2014 budget, and ACOSS said it was time they were abandoned.
"The Government absolutely has to finally put these zombie measures away," Dr Goldie said.
The measures include phasing out or abolishing a range of supplement payments for education and energy costs, and the Government's plan to make young jobseekers wait an additional four weeks to access unemployment benefits.
"The Government has to decide does it care about people who are on the lowest incomes in Australia or not, because the way that the approach to the budget has been taken we absolutely have to question that," Dr Goldie said.
"We need to at this point focus strongly on how to lift up the incomes and the opportunities for people who are seriously being left behind."
Topics: budget, government-and-politics, tax, welfare, community-and-society, australia
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