Budget night: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Government released its third budget on Tuesday. Photo: AAP/Richard Wainwright
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RICHARD WAINWRIGHT
The budget has not been met with universal support, with several groups, including the Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, slamming the Federal Government.
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Mr Birrell accused the federal budget of lacking vision, imagination and a coherent policy response to inflation.
He said numerous economists had predicted a big spending budget would increase inflation and the treasurer had taken a massive gamble on them being wrong.
“The opportunity was there to invest in infrastructure, particularly in the regions, that would drive productivity,” he said.
“Instead, we have a government trying to buy its way to another term by splashing cash to mask its inability to stop the decline in living standards for working Australians.
“People have gone backwards under this government, and this budget risks worse outcomes for struggling households.”
Mr Birrell said the budget also underlined the Albanese Government’s lack of investment in regional Australia.
“This government has struggled to roll out any of the funding already announced for regional Australia and this budget confirms that only a select few major infrastructure projects will get funded over the next seven years,” he said.
The cash Mr Birrell refers to includes the $300 electricity rebate available per household paid to people across the next financial year.
This means Australians who pay their electricity bills quarterly will see a $75 discount on each bill over the coming financial year.
“While energy and rental subsidies will provide welcome relief, they are temporary measures and a cynical attempt to artificially lower inflation,” Mr Birrell said.
Local perspective: Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell said the Federal Government wasn’t doing enough for regional or rural places.
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“What the Albanese Government is doing is treating the symptoms, not the underlying problems.
“Labor’s bungled energy policy is responsible for soaring energy costs, and picking up a small part of the bill won’t fix the problem.”
The chief executive of one of the country’s leading sexual, domestic and family violence response and recovery services, Full Stop Australia, Karen Bevan, said the scale of the national emergency had not been matched by the scale of the federal government’s investment in this budget.
“Two weeks ago, we were talking about a national emergency and the need for a comprehensive investment in women’s safety,” she said.
“But that is where progress stopped. This budget has failed to continue driving important and necessary change.
“There is no new funding for frontline services, particularly for specialist sexual violence services.
“There are huge funding gaps across response and recovery programs, which is where the critical work is done providing support to victim-survivors.
“If we want to end gender-based violence, we need to see more than tweaks to existing programs.
“This national emergency will persist unless the federal government invests in frontline services and responses.”
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