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Treasurer Scott Morrison Delivers 2017 Federal Budget

May 09, 2017

The Treasurer, Scott Morrison, has delivered the Turnbull government’s second Budget, forecasting a return to surplus in four years, abandoning stalled budget cuts, guaranteeing Medicare and the PBS, incresing the Medicare levy and imposing a new levy on the commercial banks.

The Budget also includes provisions for first home buyers to salary sacrifice into their superannuation. It includes a crackdown on welfare recipients.

The Budget marks a break with the Abbott years. It abandons the “zombie” cuts stalled in the Senate whilst increasing spending in traditional Labor areas. Morrison said it was a “reset”.

  • Listen to Scott Morrison deliver the Budget (32m)
  • Watch Morrison (32m)

Budget Documents – PDF downloads


Filed Under: Audio, Budget, Defence, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Liberal Party, NDIS, Social Welfare, Taxation, Turnbull, Video Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Kevin Andrews: The Days Of Easy Welfare For Young Australians Are Over

May 10, 2014

Declaring that “the days of easy welfare for younger Australians are over”, the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, has announced that the Abbott government will promote a system of “earn or learn” for people under 30 and put in place a review of the Disability Support Pension.

AndrewsSpeaking at a press conference in Melbourne, Andrews said new recipients of the Disability Support Pension (DSP) over the past 5 or 6 years would be expected to seek work if they were judged sufficiently able.

Andrews said: “The message is this: we expect people who are capable of working to do so.”

Around 800,000 people receive the DSP. Andrews said statistics indicated there was no point in reassessing most recipients after they have been on the payment for six years.

Andrews said the government would promote a system of “earn or learn” for people under the age of 30. Young people would be expected to participate in training programs or have a job search program. “We’re no longer going to support easy welfare for people who want to sit around on the couch at home,” Andrews said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbott, Audio, Budget, Social Welfare, Video Tagged With: , ,

Noel Pearson: The Light On The Hill

Aug 12, 2000

This is the text of the Ben Chifley Memorial Lecture delivered by Noel Pearson at the Bathurst Panthers Leagues Club.

Text of Ben Chifley Memorial Lecture delivered by Noel Pearson.

In recent times I have been thinking about the social problems of my people in Cape York Peninsula. The nature and extent of our problems are horrendous. I will not reiterate the statistics here tonight, suffice to say that our society is in a terrible state of dysfunction.

In my consideration of the breakdown of values and relationships in our society – I have come to the view that there has been a significant change in the scale and nature of our problems over the past thirty years. Our social life has declined even as our material circumstances have improved greatly since we gained citizenship. I have also come to the view that we suffered a particular social deterioration once we became dependent on passive welfare. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Indigenous Tagged With: , , ,