Budget reply fails to set out plan to lift living standards or tackle housing crisis

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) Media Release

The Coalition’s budget reply contained no plan for supporting those on the lowest incomes or addressing the housing affordability crisis.

“Nothing in the Coalition’s plan would permanently lift the living standards of those with the least,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie AO.

“The fuel excise is a short-term, poorly targeted measure. Raising the rate of Jobseeker, Youth Allowance, and related payments is the best way to provide permanent relief to people on the lowest incomes.

“Tonight’s budget reply proposes government spending is out of control, but the evidence clearly shows that we can invest further in essential services and supports.

“We do not have a government spending problem – we have a revenue problem. Amongst OECD countries, Australia is the 9th lowest in terms of revenue we collect, and the 6th lowest in terms of public spending.

“Budgets are about choices. To fund essential services, we should tackle tax reform so we no longer forgo billions of dollars in revenue each year to the wealthiest 10%. And we certainly shouldn’t be introducing new wasteful tax breaks.”

ACOSS opposes the Coalition’s proposal to allow first-home buyers to use their superannuation for a home deposit and plan to cut the Housing Australia Future Fund.

“Using retirement savings to pay for housing will only inflate prices and increase financial vulnerability,” Dr Goldie said.

“All this policy will do is push up house prices and shrink retirement incomes. It will not fix the root causes of the housing crisis, which are wreaking havoc on our community.

“If we’re going to address the housing crisis we need to drastically scale up the supply of affordable homes. The Housing Australia Future Fund is a critical vehicle to achieving that goal. We need to be investing billions more each year, not abolishing it.”

ACOSS welcomes the proposal to introduce a Gas Reserve Policy on existing exports, however, we strongly oppose opening new gas supply and any attempts to defund environmental groups which are working to protect the environment using the law.

“We urge the Coalition to rethink its energy plan, which ignores climate science,” Dr Goldie said.

“The Coalition’s proposal to open up new gas supply, like their nuclear policy, will increase energy prices and will make the climate crisis worse.

“We don’t need more polluting, expensive gas or nuclear that will take too long to build and cost twice as much as renewables. ACOSS is calling for the scale up of our investment in renewables and storage.

“And if parties are serious about providing targeted energy bill relief to those worst impacted by cost pressures they need to invest in home energy upgrades for low-income and First Nations households with thermal efficiency, electrification and solar, which could save up to $3,350 each year.

“A priority for all parties should be to build on the recent investment by the federal government in home energy upgrades for 25% of social housing to upgrade all social housing by 2030.

ACOSS welcomes the commitment to further investment in food relief and youth mental health services as a first step towards addressing the critical funding gaps in those sectors. However, we oppose the Coalition’s plan to cut the public service. We need permanent and skilled staff in the public service to deliver high-quality services and advice to government. The previous Coalition Government replaced public service roles with 53,900 contractors and labour-hire staff.

As we head towards the election campaign, ACOSS is calling on all political leaders to avoid stoking division and instead focus on policies that ensure no one is left behind.

“Asserting that immigration is at the heart of the housing crisis fuels division and distracts from the meaningful action required to ensure everyone can afford a secure home,” Dr Goldie said.

“We need our political leaders to show they truly understand the real challenges facing ordinary people and are willing to take substantive action to address growing inequality.”

 

See also: Numbers don’t lie: $0 for nuclear, $1.3bn for polluting gas and bucketloads of climate harm in Opposition’s budget reply

 

Dear reader, we need your support

Independent sites such as The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.

One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.

With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.

Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969