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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/families-face-tougher-benefits-test-but-budget-to-spare-sole-parents
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Families face tougher benefits test but budget to spare sole parents | Families face tougher benefits test but budget to spare sole parents |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The government will apply tougher tests to family tax benefits but will not follow the Commission of Audit’s recommendation to abolish Family Tax Benefit B. | The government will apply tougher tests to family tax benefits but will not follow the Commission of Audit’s recommendation to abolish Family Tax Benefit B. |
| The government confirmed that there would be changes to the family tax benefits following reports there would be a $100,000 means test for families to receive Family Tax Benefits A or B. However, it is understood that Family Tax Benefit B will not be abolished. | The government confirmed that there would be changes to the family tax benefits following reports there would be a $100,000 means test for families to receive Family Tax Benefits A or B. However, it is understood that Family Tax Benefit B will not be abolished. |
| Family Tax Benefit B provides assistance to sole parents and families with a stay-at-home parent. It currently covers families with a primary income below $150,000. The maximum rates paid are $4,241 for families with a child under five and $3,070 for families whose youngest child is between five and 18. | Family Tax Benefit B provides assistance to sole parents and families with a stay-at-home parent. It currently covers families with a primary income below $150,000. The maximum rates paid are $4,241 for families with a child under five and $3,070 for families whose youngest child is between five and 18. |
| Joe Hockey, who said both Liberal and Labor governments had been handing out welfare to people who do not need it, has also flagged cuts to environmental agencies ahead of the budget. | Joe Hockey, who said both Liberal and Labor governments had been handing out welfare to people who do not need it, has also flagged cuts to environmental agencies ahead of the budget. |
| And he | |
| confirmed that the pension age will rise to 70 years of age in 2035, which | |
| would affect anyone born after July 1965. He said the changes would | |
| deliver a | |
| "fairer system" that would be more sustainable. | |
| "The aged pension expenditure today is | |
| currently more than we spend on defence,'' Hockey said. | |
| "It's rising to $72bn rapidly. That's over 6% | |
| growth. One of the reasons why is because we're ageing. | |
| "The | |
| pension kicks in currently at 65. When Labor increased it to 67 by 2023 | |
| we gave them bipartisan support. When we introduce legislation to | |
| increase it to 70 by July 2035 ... we expect that there will be | |
| bipartisan support." | |
| The treasurer was speaking as the 1,200-page Commission of Audit report continued to draw widespread consternation. It recommended $70bn worth of cuts to government spending over 10 years, including a $15 co-payment for doctors’ visits, higher university fees with student loans repaid faster, a lower minimum wage and the removal of a portion of family tax benefits. | The treasurer was speaking as the 1,200-page Commission of Audit report continued to draw widespread consternation. It recommended $70bn worth of cuts to government spending over 10 years, including a $15 co-payment for doctors’ visits, higher university fees with student loans repaid faster, a lower minimum wage and the removal of a portion of family tax benefits. |
| Released on Thursday, it comes less than two weeks before the budget on 13 May and sets the scene for the government’s warning that every sector will be expected to “do the heavy lifting”. | Released on Thursday, it comes less than two weeks before the budget on 13 May and sets the scene for the government’s warning that every sector will be expected to “do the heavy lifting”. |
| Already the government has suggested a temporary deficit levy on the wealthy, in spite of Tony Abbott’s pre-election promise for no new taxes. Hockey warned not to assume the “levy” would hit incomes above $80,000 as reported. | Already the government has suggested a temporary deficit levy on the wealthy, in spite of Tony Abbott’s pre-election promise for no new taxes. Hockey warned not to assume the “levy” would hit incomes above $80,000 as reported. |
| Asked whether both sides had been giving out welfare to people who did not need it, Hockey, who was a minister in the Howard government which introduced the family tax benefits and the baby bonus, said yes. | Asked whether both sides had been giving out welfare to people who did not need it, Hockey, who was a minister in the Howard government which introduced the family tax benefits and the baby bonus, said yes. |
| “It's been happening for some time and the fact is that the system we have in its current form is unsustainable and unaffordable,” the treasurer told the ABC. | “It's been happening for some time and the fact is that the system we have in its current form is unsustainable and unaffordable,” the treasurer told the ABC. |
| “At that time [when family tax benefits were introduced] we were running surpluses and what happened in those days was affordable.” | “At that time [when family tax benefits were introduced] we were running surpluses and what happened in those days was affordable.” |
| Hockey also said he wanted to remove duplication and axe “the vast number of [environmental] agencies that are involved in doing the same thing”. | Hockey also said he wanted to remove duplication and axe “the vast number of [environmental] agencies that are involved in doing the same thing”. |
| “When I say we’ve seen the age of entitlement, that applies to business as much as it applies to the rest of us,” Hockey told 2GB. | “When I say we’ve seen the age of entitlement, that applies to business as much as it applies to the rest of us,” Hockey told 2GB. |
| The government has long committed to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change Authority – both moves also suggested by the audit commission report. Hockey revealed that he found wind turbines “utterly offensive”. | The government has long committed to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change Authority – both moves also suggested by the audit commission report. Hockey revealed that he found wind turbines “utterly offensive”. |
| “If I can be a little indulgent, I drive to Canberra to go to parliament and I must say I find those wind turbines around Lake George to be utterly offensive. I think they’re a blight on the landscape.” | “If I can be a little indulgent, I drive to Canberra to go to parliament and I must say I find those wind turbines around Lake George to be utterly offensive. I think they’re a blight on the landscape.” |
| The opposition treasurer, Chris Bowen, said there were long-term pressures on government budgets around the world but Australia did not have a “budget emergency”. | The opposition treasurer, Chris Bowen, said there were long-term pressures on government budgets around the world but Australia did not have a “budget emergency”. |
| And he ruled out Labor supporting any co-payment on doctors visits as it undermined the basic principles of Medicare. | And he ruled out Labor supporting any co-payment on doctors visits as it undermined the basic principles of Medicare. |
| “It’s a fundamental principle that your wealth should not determine your health,” Bowen said. | “It’s a fundamental principle that your wealth should not determine your health,” Bowen said. |
| The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Hambleton, said the health recommendations proposed would put health, medical and pharmaceutical care out of reach for Australian families and undermined the principle of universal access to healthcare. | The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Hambleton, said the health recommendations proposed would put health, medical and pharmaceutical care out of reach for Australian families and undermined the principle of universal access to healthcare. |
| “It is a health system designed by bean counters for bean counters,” Hambleton said. | “It is a health system designed by bean counters for bean counters,” Hambleton said. |
| “It puts saving money ahead of saving lives. It is shifting more and more health costs on to patients, including the most vulnerable: working families, the elderly, and the chronically ill. | “It puts saving money ahead of saving lives. It is shifting more and more health costs on to patients, including the most vulnerable: working families, the elderly, and the chronically ill. |
| “The new high co-payment proposal for GP visits would see sick people abandon or delay visits to the doctor, which would ultimately cost the health system more as these patients eventually require much more expensive hospital treatment.” | “The new high co-payment proposal for GP visits would see sick people abandon or delay visits to the doctor, which would ultimately cost the health system more as these patients eventually require much more expensive hospital treatment.” |
| The Commission of Audit chairman, Tony Shepherd, was appearing before the Senate committee headed by Richard di Natale on Friday. Under questioning from Labor senator Sam Dastyari, Shepherd said he believed the measures contained in the report were completely sensible and should be implemented in full. | The Commission of Audit chairman, Tony Shepherd, was appearing before the Senate committee headed by Richard di Natale on Friday. Under questioning from Labor senator Sam Dastyari, Shepherd said he believed the measures contained in the report were completely sensible and should be implemented in full. |