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2012 Federal Budget: better late than never

By Tristan Ewins - posted Monday, 28 May 2012


Meanwhile, providing tangible results for the NDIS ahead of the next election could be crucial in establishing the credentials of the government as being based on more than just 'distant commitments'. Though more financial support is still needed for Carers; with additional funding for residental care for those who choose it – and for those who require high level care and do not have a choice. Sustainable quotas are also necessary for aged care workers and nurses; and resources to improve quality of life for all kinds of aged Australians suffering social isolation, financial stress, difficulty with day-to-day living, and the indignities that come from an under-resourced, sometimes profit-driven and under-regulated residential care sector.


However the flagship initiative of Labor's 2012 Budget was definitely its swathe of Cost-of-Living initiatives. The Labor website proudly proclaimed the following initiatives on May 8th" aimed squarely at "low and middle income families":

  • An expansion in FamilyTax Benefit A with an increase of the benefit to low and middle income families with two children to $600/year, and $300/year for families with a single child.
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  • A "Schoolkids Bonus" to help 1.3 million low and middle income families meet the costs of schooling: $410 for each primary school child, and $820/year for each child in high school.
  • Support for "the most vulnerable Australians"; Cost of Living Assistance for a million Australians: "$210 a year for singles or $350 a year for couples"; with "lump sum payments will be paid twice yearly"
  • "tax cuts will be delivered in 2015‑16 for all taxpayers with incomes up to $80,000" through an increase in the tax-free threshold"

These new initatives were given a price tag of about $5 billion – So they are definintely very significant.

The government also stood on its record of increasing pensions in past years, promising "a new Low Income Supplement of $300 per annum" for "Any low income households that do not receive enough assistance through tax cuts and increases to payments to cover their average expected price impact". (presumably in reference to the Carbon Tax) (See: http://www.alp.org.au/federal-government/news/helping-households-with-the-cost-of-living/ )

Imaginably this could be the beginning of an ideological offensive by Labor on the issue of distributive justice. For years now the monopoly mass media have reinforced the perception that redistribution equals 'class war'. Abbott and these media elements have directed salvo after salvo against the very principle of redistribution to correct injustices inherent in unregulated laissez faire capitalism. Facing very little criticism or scrutiny, Abbott even begrudged the very basic social solidarity of the once-off flood tax – to assist those effected by the Queensland disasters.

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Yet as against this cyncial and socially damaging political tactic a very different Tony Abbott seemed to emerge from the Opposition Leader's book 'Battlelines'. The following observation was made at the 'Left Focus' blog in 2010:

Interestingly, Abbott raises the opposition between compassionate conservatism and the kind of ruthless neo-liberalism that cares nothing for the social consequences of austerity (pp.xii-xiii). Here the author juxtaposes the "[single-minded] cutting [of] public expenditure … striving to deliver smaller government" to "compassionate conservatism, stressing solidarity with those who are doing it tough" (pp.xii-xiii). By this reckoning the "social fabric … has to be respected and preserved"… (references from 'Battlelines' by Tony Abbott)

(see:http://leftfocus.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/battlelines-whats-tony-abbott-really.html )

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About the Author

Tristan Ewins has a PhD and is a freelance writer, qualified teacher and social commentator based in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a long-time member of the Socialist Left of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He blogs at Left Focus, ALP Socialist Left Forum and the Movement for a Democratic Mixed Economy.
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