2021-04-29
In the wake of detail-free indication from the Treasurer that he is embracing continued stimulus, the Greens have expressed concern that Josh Frydenberg doesn’t know the difference between job-creating economic stimulus and corporate welfare.
The Budget looks set to continue the Liberals’ trickle-down formulation of recovering from the COVID recession by handing public money to big corporations and billionaires instead of direct investment in government-led programs to directly address wage stagnation, growing inequality and a climate crisis, as called for by the Greens in their Invest to Recover and Fight for the Future plans.
Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:
“Last Budget, Josh Frydenberg gave Australia’s billionaires like Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer a tax cut and since then he has cut JobSeeker below the poverty line. With the mooting of fast-tracking Stage 3 tax cuts, this Budget looks set to be stimulus for the billionaires and austerity for those doing it tough.
“The proposed Stage 3 Tax Cuts are the most inequitable tax cuts Australia has seen, and the Treasurer appears to be laying the ground to bring them forward in this budget.
“One of the major problems with corporate welfare, as compared to direct government investment, is that it makes inequality worse and fails to create decent jobs.
“The ACTU claimed that 60% of jobs created in the Covid recovery were casual. The way to change that is by making the billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share of tax and investing in nation-building, planet-saving projects with decent, secure jobs.
“Josh Frydenberg is using ‘cheap money’ to funnel millions to billionaires and big corporations while wages stagnate and insecure work grows.
“While Josh Frydenberg might spin that he’s shifting his focus, in reality he’s delivering stimulus to big corporations and billionaires but austerity for everyone else.”