An alternative budget

If we were in Government, these spending cuts are a fraction of what the Liberal Democrats would pursue. Our policies include major reform to the big ticket items of welfare, health, education, and defence, and the abolition of all grants to the States, forcing them to manage their own finances. 

The spending cuts the Liberal Democrats propose would not only balance the budget and repay debt, but would facilitate abolition of taxes on alcohol, fuel, tobacco and imports, allow the tax free threshold to be lifted to $40,000, and allow personal income tax and company tax rates to be reduced to a flat 20 per cent. 

By comparison, the proposal outlined in this alternative budget – which achieves a balance simply by shaving spending – is very modest.  There is no reason it could not be implemented.

A budget to set the election agenda

A balanced budget would set the agenda for months to come.  We would continue to discuss the footy, traffic jams and the Batman v Superman movie, but injected into these conversations would be comments about what the government is doing. 

Over the weeks between the budget and the election, begrudging acceptance that balancing the budget is the responsible thing to do would develop.  A café manager may overhear a customer sticking up for the budget, saying: “Why shouldn’t the budget be balanced?”  A publican may hear drinkers debate the budget across the bar, saying: “What would you do instead?”  And amid all the phone watching and thumb twiddling on the bus or train, one may even hear comments like: “But we all have to pay off our credit card.”

The imperative to balance the budget is undeniable, and as my proposals demonstrate, it would not be hard to achieve. All it requires is some gumption from Turnbull and Morrison. Let’s hope they have it.