The Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has delivered an aggressive defence of his first Budget, in a speech to The Sydney Institute tonight.
Hockey took issue with claims that the Budget increases inequality: “I would argue the comments about inequality in Australia are largely misguided, both from an historical perspective, and from the perspective of the Budget.” [Read more…]
The Australian Capital Territory Treasurer, Andrew Barr, has delivered the government’s Budget for 2014-15.
Barr told the Legislative Assembly that the Budget invested in Canberra’s future. He said: “There’s no doubt the Territory faces a big economic challenge because of the Commonwealth’s budget cuts.”
Barr said the Budget “provides a record amount of funding for health”. He said $2.5 billion over four years has been allocated for infrastructure projects. The Budget cuts stamp duty, payroll tax and insurance duty.
Barr said: “The Government aims to balance the Budget over the economic cycle. While acknowledging the budget is in deficit this year, the Government has taken a specific policy decision to support the economy and our community ahead of returning to balance sooner by imposing harsh austerity policies.”
Budget Downloads
All documents are in PDF format.
Budget Speech delivered by to the ACT Legislative Assembly by Treasurer Andrew Barr.
Investing in Canberra
Canberra is facing a significant economic challenge. [Read more…]
The Abbott government’s values are not the nation’s values, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen has told the National Press Club.
Delivering the traditional response from the Opposition to the Federal Budget, Bowen said the “swingeing” cuts “take us to an Australia so much less than what we could do”. [Read more…]
This is a television advertisement released today by the ALP, attacking last week’s federal Budget.