Gillard Confirms $12 Billion Budget Shortfall

Apr 29, 2013 Leave a Comment

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says there will be a $12 billion budget hole this financial year.

Gillard

In a speech to the Per Capita think tank today, Gillard said: “The ‘bottom line for the Budget bottom line’ is this: the amount of tax revenue the Government has collected so far this financial year is already $7.5 billion less than was forecast last October.

“Treasury now estimates that this reduction will increase to around $12 billion by the end of the financial year.

“This unusually low revenue, which wasn’t forecast even a few months ago, creates a significant fiscal gap over the Budget period.”

Gillard said “every reasonable option” is on the table, “even options previously taken off the table”.

The government “will not cut to the bone” in next month’s budget.

She said: “In the Budget, the Government will do the right thing by the nation, the right thing for the long-term. We will save responsibly, even when that means spending less on things which are important and valuable. We will invest wisely for the future. No one will be singled out, the burden of our decisions will be shared across the whole Australian community.”

  • Listen to Gillard’s speech (27m)

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  • Listen to Gillard answer questions (17m)

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Text of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech to Per Capita.

It’s a great sign of the growing recognition of Per Capita’s work that your Executive Director David has been in such good company at the international Policy Network’s Progressive Governance and Global Progress conference in Denmark.

Congratulations to you on the fine contribution Per Capita is making in the world of ideas.

With the Federal Budget just fifteen days away, I thank you for this opportunity to share with you the clearest possible picture of the purpose and context of our Budget deliberations.

This year’s Budget will be about a national challenge – and a national plan.

A challenge for Australia: to respond to the huge reductions in revenue growth over the next four years.

A plan for Australia: to make necessary investments in the nation’s future, to ensure that none of our people is left behind.

Tuesday 14 May will be no old-fashioned pre-election Budget night. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 Federal Election, Audio2013, Budget, Gillard Tagged With: , ,

Swan Abandons Budget Surplus For This Year; ‘Sledgehammer’ Hits Revenue

Dec 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

The Acting Prime Minister and Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has announced that the government no longer expects to meet its target of a budget surplus this financial year.

“Dramatically lower tax revenue now makes it unlikely that there will be a surplus in 2012-13,” Swan told a press conference in Canberra today.

A “sledgehammer” has hit government revenues, Swan said. “Unusual events” have weighed heavily on revenues which have been written down by $20 billion. Latest figures show a $3.9 billion revenue slump in the first four months of 2012-13.

Swan

Swan said the government has kept making “responsible savings to fill a growing revenue hole”, but that it “would not be responsible to cut harder and deeper to fill a revenue hole at the expense of employment and growth. “I simply couldn’t stand here and say that would be the responsible thing to do. The responsible thing to do is let the automatic stabilisers go to work on the revenue side of the budget.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Audio, Audio2012, Budget, Economy, Gillard, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Gillard Announces Levy To Pay For Flood Damage

Jan 27, 2011

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that a one-off levy to pay for flood damage around Australia will be introduced from July 1.

The levy will only apply to individuals on incomes of more than $50,000. It will be levied at a rate of 0.5% on incomes from $50,001 to $100,000. The rate will be 1% on incomes from $100,001. People who have been affected by the floods will be exempt.

Gillard said the levy will apply only in the 2011-12 financial year and will raise $1.8 billion.

Julia Gillard

Addressing the National Press Club, Gillard also announced a $5.6 billion funding and skilling package for flood rebuilding.

She announced the abolition, deferral or capping of access to a range of carbon abatement programs. “These include the Green Car Innovation Fund, Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme, the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships and Solar Flagships, the Solar Hot Water Rebate, Green Start Program, Solar Homes and Communities Plan and the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.”

Gillard said: “The key to these carbon abatement program savings is my determination to deliver a carbon price.”

  • Listen to Julia Gillard’s National Press Club Address, including questions.

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Transcript of Julia Gillard’s National Press Club Address.

I see what needs to be done and I will do it

Yesterday was Australia Day, and in some ways, it was an Australia Day like any other.

Picnics and barbecues, tennis and cricket, a new Australian of the Year and new Australian citizens – in so many ways it felt just like last year did and just like next year will.

But yesterday in Toowoomba, Australia Day felt different to any I have known.

I went to Toowoomba yesterday to be with some of the people I have met in these last weeks. I went to Toowoomba, where shock has been followed by horror and horror has been followed by grief and where grief’s long season has only now begun, because I wanted the people I have met to know that their Prime Minister won’t let them go. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2011, Budget, Climate Change, Gillard, Infrastructure, QLD Tagged With: , , , ,

Details Of Rudd Government’s ‘Economic Security Strategy’

Oct 14, 2008

This is the text of a joint press release from the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Treasurer, Wayne Swan.

It details the government’s strategy for responding to the global financial crisis.

Economic Security Strategy

The Rudd Government today announced a $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy to strengthen the Australian economy in the face of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.

This $10.4 billion strategy will strengthen the national economy and support Australian households, given the risk of a deep and prolonged global economic slowdown.

The Australian economy is strong, and we remain better placed than most other nations, but Australia is not immune from the global financial crisis.

In the midst of the global financial crisis, the Rudd Government is taking decisive action to strengthen the Australian economy.

The Rudd Government’s $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy contains five key measures: [Read more...]

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Rudd Announces $10.4 Billion Economic Stimulus Package

Oct 14, 2008

The Federal Government has announced an “economic security package” containing 5 initiatives worth $10.4 billion, including a boost to pensions, assistance to first home buyers and low income earners, more training places, and a “bringing forward” of infrastructure plans.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said that from December 8 single pensioners will receive a lump sum payment of $1,400 in December. Couples will receive $2,100. This payment will carry pensioners through until the next budget when the government’s review of pension arrangements will be announced. This measure is worth $4.8 billion.

There will be a $3.9 billion package of assistance to low and middle income earners. Around 3.8 million dependent children and children in various forms of care will receive a one-off payment of $1,000 on December 8.

The government will double the first home buyers grant to $14,000. First home buyers who build a new house will receive $21,000, in an attempt to stimulate the construction industry. This measure is worth $1.5 billion.

The government will spend $187 million to provide 56,000 training places in 2008-09.

Rudd said the government’s “nation building agenda”, particularly in relation to eduction, health and hospitals would be brought forward with announcements now scheduled for December.

  • Listen to Rudd and Swan:

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Filed Under: Audio, Audio2008, Budget, Economy, Rudd Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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