An alternative budget

All it requires is unwinding Kevin Rudd’s spending splurge in response to the Global Financial Crisis.

Haircuts for welfare recipients

As welfare is more than a third of Commonwealth government spending, it cannot be immune from cuts.  Government spending on welfare should be cut by $300 per Australian per year, noting that this would still leave $6,000 per Australian.

A third of this should come by freezing welfare payments and child care subsidies.  The aged, families, unemployed and sick would all take a small haircut.  Single age pensioners would miss out on a $20 boost to their fortnightly pension.

More than half of the cut should come by including the family home in the means test for the age pension.  This would ensure that young people who can’t afford a house don’t pay taxes to fund older Australians with multi-million dollar houses.

The final contribution should come from consistently applying the income test for Family Tax Benefit Part A payments once a family earns more than $50,000.  The impact of this would fall largely on families with incomes in excess of $90,000.

Haircuts for healthcare users

Government spending of $110 per person should be cut from the health budget.

A $5 Medicare co-payment for non-concessional patients should be reintroduced.  This would represent a fraction of the cost of consultations.  The Government’s proposed $5 increase in co‑payments for pharmaceuticals for non-concessional patients should proceed as well.

Commonwealth Government subsidies for the training of future health workers – which represent a completely unnecessary intervention in state activity – should be stopped.

And programs to promote healthy lifestyles should be abolished, as how we live is none of the government’s business.  However, immunisation programs should be retained as these provide benefits beyond the individuals who receive the vaccine.

Haircuts for students

A budget boost of $150 should come from the education budget.  Half of this boost could come by requiring graduates to repay their concessional student loans from their first pay check.  Currently they don’t start repaying their debt until their income exceeds $53,000, and the Government is planning to lower this threshold only slightly.

The other half of this budget boost could come by reducing Commonwealth funding for students in non-government schools, towards the level of Commonwealth funding for students in government schools.  The only reason they are different is to counteract State discrimination against non-government schools.  Ideally, only one level of government should fund schools using student-linked vouchers, making it irrelevant who owns the school.

Haircuts for public servants and the military

Government spending of $10 per person should be cut by implementing the Commission of Audit recommendation to remove excessive senior staff at Defence Headquarters, comprising the top brass of the Defence Force and senior executives from the Defence Department.