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- The Morrison Government has unveiled its budget for 2021-22, with no foreseeable surplus forecast as COVID-19 spending continues
- The Treasurer announced the details of the budget last night, with health care, aged care, childcare and the NDIS all receiving funding boosts
- Other winners include farmers, homeowners, wider infrastructure and the vast majority of tax-payers, with income tax offsets extended
- International tourism and universities received less funds than expected, while Josh Frydenberg has confirmed international border won’t reopen this year
- The government is also banking on the majority of Australians being vaccinated by then end of 2021, and no further outbreaks of COVID-19
- Meanwhile, the underlying cash deficit for 2021‑22 is forecast to top $106.6 billion, or 40.2 per cent of GDP
- The Opposition has also described the budget as a “plan for Scott Morrison’s job” stating the pre-election budget failed to address stagnant wage growth
The Federal Government has unveiled its budget for 2021-22, with no surplus forecast as it continues to spend big on Australia’s COVID-19 recovery.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the full details of the budget last night in Canberra, with health-based services receiving particular attention
Last night, I outlined the Morrison Government’s plan to secure Australia’s recovery.
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) May 11, 2021
A plan to continue protecting Australians from #COVID.
A plan that creates more jobs.
A plan that guarantees the essential services & builds a more resilient & secure Australia. #Budget2021 pic.twitter.com/InErqKDCho
This includes more funds being spent on aged care, mental health services and the NDIS – with each sector awarded $17.7 billion, $2.3 billion and $13.2 billion, respectively.
Other winners from last night’s budget include farmers, homeowners, and the wider infrastructure sector, with $850 million earmarked for agriculture spending, two building stimulus packages extended and an extra $15.2 billion committed to the government’s 10-year infrastructure plan.
The vast majority of tax-payers will also be rewarded by the Morrison Government, with income tax offsets extended until 2022.
This will give $7.8 billion in tax cuts to 10 million low and middle-income earners, with singles to receive $1080 and couples to be handed up to $2160.
The video game industry and alcohol distilleries also received funding as part of the 2021-22 budget, with hundreds of millions set aside for tax offsets for both marginal sectors.
International tourism and universities are the so-called ‘losers’ of the government’s budget after receiving less funds than expected.
The Treasurer also used budget time to confirm Australia’s international border won’t reopen until mid-2022.
“With respect to international borders, it’s quite a conservative, cautious assumption that international borders will gradually reopen from the middle of next year,” Josh Frydenberg said in an interview with ABC.
The government’s budget is also banking on the majority of Australians being vaccinated by then end of 2021 and no further outbreaks of COVID-19 domestically.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic, and making assumptions during normal times is difficult, to make them during the middle of a pandemic is even more so,” the Treasurer said.
“Those assumptions are based on the best available evidence to us. We know that more than 10 per cent of the Australian population has now received their first dose,” Josh Frydenberg explained.
“We’ve seen 30 per cent of those aged over 70 or above receive a dose. We saw more than 400,000 doses rolled out over the course of the last week. More supply is coming online. So that is the assumption about vaccines,” he told ABC.
All up, the Morrison Government estimates that the underlying cash deficit for 2021‑22 is forecast to be $106.6 billion, while gross debt will likely be 40.2 per cent of GDP at the end of June.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also defended the lack of forecast surplus for the next 10 years, by arguing the government was forced into spending money because of COVID-19.
The PM told Nine there are no surpluses “scheduled and foreseeable within the next decade because of the significant investments we’ve had to take”.
However, the Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has labelled the pre-election budget a “plan for Scott Morrison’s job”, arguing the fiscal plan does nothing to address flat wage growth.
My reaction to #Budget2021:
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 11, 2021
Australians have endured eight long years of flat wages, insecure work and skyrocketing cost of living under the Liberals and Nationals – and this Budget does nothing to change that.
It’s just more of the same from a tired old government. pic.twitter.com/Og8q06JYud
Labor will hand down its full budget reply speech in the coming days.
