29/03/2022 

JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

SENATOR KATY GALLAGHER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
LABOR SENATOR FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY


FALLING REAL WAGES, A TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT AND THE RISK OF A SECOND WASTED DECADE

Nothing in this Budget makes up for a decade of attacks on wages, job security and Medicare.

Its defining features are pay that won't keep up with prices and almost nothing to show for a trillion dollars in debt.

It's a ploy for an election, not a plan for a better future.

Australians need a pay rise not a patch job that leaves them 1,355 worse off.

Even these billions of dollars sprayed around on the eve of an election won't go near topping-up the 5,275 for every Australian, compared to the last Labor Government.

There's a cash splash before the election and at least $3 billion in secret cuts after - the Government must come clean about the cuts buried in the Budget papers.

If the Government is defeated in May, its parting gift to Australians will be an increase in petrol prices in September, pay not keeping up with prices, a trillion dollars in debt, and rising interest rates

They're asking Australians for another three years but haven't made any meaningful steps to addressing the aged care crisis and haven't funded a National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Treasurer who talks about delivering what he promised is the same Treasurer who made 'Back in Black' mugs before the last election and is now admitting to deficits as far as the eye can see.

The same Treasurer who has abandoned millions of dollars he promised for carparks in his own electorate, let the Emergency Response Fund sit idle, paid tens of billions to companies that didn't need it, and mismanaged the books of the most wasteful government since Federation.

This Prime Minister will do and say anything before an election - even his own Ministers don't trust him to deliver what he promises.

After all the challenges and sacrifices made during the pandemic, floods and bushfires, Australians need and deserve a better Budget for a better future, but they didn't get one from Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg.

An Albanese Labor Government has real policies to ease the costs of living, strengthen Medicare, deliver cleaner and cheaper energy, a better NBN, cheaper access to child care, fee-free TAFE to tackle the skills crisis, and a Future Made in Australia.

TUESDAY, 29 MARCH 2022