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Dear Editor
The Budget has been released and it is very clear that middle and lower income families, pensioners and people with a disability will do the greater part of the heavy lifting. It seems that we now have a new form of a double speed economy. Corporate Australia and big business marching towards increased wealth and the most vulnerable in our community will march further into poverty and all at the same time. So many BROKEN promises in the first Abbott government budget, this is a government of new taxes and surprises that cannot be trusted.
My question is how will long term unemployed people under thirty get a job when they will be competing with over 16,000 skilled public servants who will loose their jobs? What is the government doing to encourage employers to employ young unskilled people? How will people under thirty who live in a low income family environment survive if they are unemployed for six months? How will earn and learn work in Queensland where the TAFE system is being dismantled?
It certainly will not be a good experience if one falls ill. The new tax to visit the doctor, have blood tests and purchase medicines will surely put significant pressure on hospital emergency departments; this will encourage the Newman government to put a cost on visiting the emergency department at the hospital. The most vulnerable in our community will simply not be able to afford a GP visit.
Cutting family supplement payments is simply unfair but the Treasurer says this is a supplement as people have a primary income, but surely the very reason they get a supplement is because their income is low. Young families will certainly struggle especially with the increase in petrol prices. This is a real problem in Townsville where we have limited public transport.
People with a disability will also carry a very heavy load as will aged pensioners with pension decreases and DSP recipients under thirty five reassessed in order to get them into work, on the surface this is not a bad idea but once again I ask the question where are the jobs for these people? Children with a disability have been severely punished in this budget in terms of access to a quality education that would give them an opportunity to create a strong and bright future.
Reducing or almost cutting out our foreign aid contribution does not set Australia apart as a caring and compassionate nation, we live in a global village and history will not treat us well based on this budget decision. Governments must be fiscally responsible but they must also govern with a heart.
The only winners that I can see in this budget are the medical researchers and it could take decades for medical breakthroughs whilst the most disadvantaged can't afford to see a doctor. There is no budget emergency, Australia has a AAA rating, but there will certainly be an emergency in the capacity to live for many vulnerable people in our community.
Cathy O'Toole
Aitkenvale