Brand MHR Madeleine King (left), with her mother.
Camera IconBrand MHR Madeleine King (left), with her mother. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Brand MHR says Federal Budget hurts local families, workers and pensioners

Tim SlaterWeekend Kwinana Courier

THE Federal Budget will deliver tax handouts for multinationals and millionaires while hurting local families, workers and pensioners, according to Brand MHR Madeleine King.

“Make no mistake this budget does not care about everyday people who are doing it tough,” Ms King said.

“It is a budget that rewards big business and the banks with a $50 billion tax cut, while it cuts school, university and Tafe funding.”

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Ms King said the budget failed to help people struggling with cost of living pressures instead increasing taxes, slashing pension payments and failing to lift the freeze on Medicare rebates.

“Pensioners will be worse off with hits to their budget while workers will pay extra tax,” she said.

“It is a disgrace that Australia will soon top the list of having the oldest pension age in the developed world, a dubious accolade by any account.”

Ms King said Labor would continue to fight for fairness and would hold the government to account for its attacks on families and workers

“Nothing in this budget delivers good jobs now at a time when the unemployment rate is at the same as the peak of Global Financial Crisis,” she said.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the Federal Government acknowledged people were worried about wages growth and jobs.

“We remain absolutely focused on the growth that their jobs and their wages depend on,” he said.

“We have absolutely committed to delivering the services that they rely on and putting that downward pressure on the cost of living and we’ve done all that at the same time as living within our means.”

Mr Morrison said it had been a tough job to be able to bring the budget back to balance by 2020-21 and put downward pressure on the cost of living.

“We’re growing the economy so there’s more and better paid jobs,” he said.

“We’re guaranteeing services like Medicare, like schools funding, like hospitals.”

He said it was a budget for hard working Australians who were dealing with challenges every day.

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