Low and middle income earners and businesses on the Central Coast emerged as the big winners in the Federal Budget, handed down by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on May 11.
Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, says the budget will rebuild the economy and create more jobs to ensure a bright post-COVID future.
Thousands of Coast residents are set to benefit from tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners, which will see savings of up to $1,080 for individuals or $2,160 for couples.
Wicks said this would provide more money to spend with local businesses, giving them the confidence to take on an extra worker, offer an extra shift, or buy a new piece of equipment.
“To support further job creation, the Government will extend temporary full expensing and the loss carry-back measures announced in last year’s Budget for another year,” she said.
“This will allow more than 99 per cent of businesses employing 11.5 million Australians to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets of any value in the year they are installed until June 30, 2023.”
Wicks said the commitment to the JobTrainer Fund had been doubled to support a further 163,000 new training places and the budget also funds more than 170,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships, 5,000 higher education short courses and 2,700 places in Indigenous girls’ academies.
“Women will also benefit from STEM scholarships and programs to help them break into non-traditional trades,” she said.
“The Government is building the infrastructure our community needs for the future, with a record 10-year $110B infrastructure pipeline, which is already supporting 100,000 jobs across the country, including vital local projects such as the $52.8M investment for Manns Rd intersection upgrades.”
Wicks said around 1,590 families in the electorate of Robertson would benefit from a $1.7B investment in childcare which will see an increase in subsidies available to families with more than one child aged five and under in child care and the abolishment of the $10,560 cap on the Child Care Subsidy.
“For those families with more than one child aged five and under in child care, the level of subsidy received will increase by 30 percentage points to a maximum subsidy of 95 per cent for their second and subsequent children,” she said.
But Labour Senator Deborah O’Neill said the Government has a lot of experience making promises it doesn’t intend to deliver.
“Last year, the Budget’s centrepiece was the JobMaker program which was forecast to create 450,000 jobs; it created just 1,100,” she said.
“You’d have to be a foundation member of the Liberal National cheer squad to accept that this year’s meagre promises for the Coast will end up being delivered.
“After eight long years, Coasties are still waiting for commuter carparks in Gosford and Woy Woy, our high speed rail, our performing arts centre, wage growth and for a continuous and functioning NBN for communities west of the M1.”
Reactions from other quarters have been mixed.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed many of the budget’s primary care measures but encouraged the Government to go further in supporting quality GP patient services.
Nature and the climate are big losers in a budget that was supposed to have something for everyone, according to the NSW Nature Conservation Council.
Council CEO Chris Gamvian said $32M had been slashed from nature conservation, climate adaptation and climate science.
Health Services Union National President Gerard Hayes says a $17.7B aged care package is not enough to address a system which has been in “chronic crisis” for years and called for pay increase for aged care workers.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) agreed, saying the commitment is definitely not the “once in a generation” reform package promised and won’t be anywhere near enough to provide safe, quality care for vulnerable nursing home residents.
But Beyond Blue has welcomed a $2.3B investment in mental health and suicide prevention initiatives, saying it is an important first step towards the reform the community desperately needs.
And measures directly aimed at easing the chronic worker shortage in the hospitality sector have been welcomed by the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) and Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA).
The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has welcomed the endorsement of the key role councils are playing in creating jobs and supporting local communities by leading a locally led economic recovery from the COVID pandemic.
ALGA President Councillor Linda Scott said key measures outlined in the budget, including a $1B investment in local government community infrastructure and road projects, would enable councils to ramp up their locally led economic development work, “creating more jobs and enhancing community wellbeing for the public good”.
Terry Collins