2017-05-09
“If you’re under the age of 35, you’ve been screwed over in this budget - whether it’s the gouging of higher education, the lack of action on climate change or the refusal to tackle housing affordability,” Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said.
“It’s clear that the Government finally understands you can’t just keep cutting spending without raising revenue. But this is a budget with no vision or direction for the country. It isn’t a roadmap for the future, it’s a highway to nowhere,” Dr Di Natale said.
“Any Government that puts forward a budget that sets aside $60 million for fracking and not a penny to tackle climate change is letting down not just the current generation of Australians, but the coming generations who are left to clean up the mess.
“The Coalition clearly can’t shake their habit of attacking the vulnerable and balancing the budget on the back of young people and those doing it tough.”
“The mean-spirited approach to welfare in this budget, demonising anyone unlucky enough to have had a bad break and making it that much harder for them to get back on track, tells you all you need to know about Malcolm Turnbull’s vision for Australia,” Greens Treasury Spokesman Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said.
“I believe that a majority of Australians want action on dangerous global warming, affordable housing and education and a caring society that looks after each other. That’s why we’ll stand up and fight for a budget that reflects a caring, 21st century Australia.”
Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said:
On Housing Affordability
“We know what we need to do to make it possible for young people to buy a home in our capital cities- get rid of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. Unfortunately, this budget proves that the Government is too beholden to its billionaire mates to do anything more than nibble around the edges.
“These fresh tax breaks to first-home buyers and baby boomers are going to further overheat the market and make housing less affordable, not more. The Government and the ALP need to stop taking donations that make it impossible for them to write policies that are in your interest, not the interests of wealthy developers”.
On Climate Change
“The Treasurer didn’t mention climate change even once in his budget address, which is fitting since they didn’t even bother to provide further funding for Tony Abbott’s Direct Action Policy, the centrepiece of their response to climate change. Australia now officially has no climate change policy.”
“If you are under the age of 35, this budget guarantees that you will be the one dealing with the climate mess that your parents and grandparents created and that this Government was too gutless to address.”
On Welfare
“The only thing that forcing welfare recipients who fail drug tests onto a cashless welfare card will do is further stigmatise people already at the margins and decrease their incentive to get help. It’s a perfect storm of ill-informed, mean-spirited policy.”
“Let’s be clear – this is an unprecedented violation of people’s civil liberties that sets a dangerous precedent. This is an absolutely shocking development that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who cares about personal freedoms and human dignity. I will be seeking advice about whether this is even lawful.
“Once again the Government is taking a page from Tony Abbott’s playbook and trying to raise revenue on the back of the most vulnerable people in our society. By extending the waiting period for access to income support from three to six months for people who have more than $18,000 in the bank, this Government is driving those people trying to get out of poverty further into it.”
On Health
“This was a missed opportunity for the health budget. The Medicare guarantee fund is a glorified bank account and ending the Medicare freeze just undoes a bad decision. We should be investing more in prevention and redirecting the Private Health Insurance rebate into the public health system.”