Federal Budget 2020: What can we expect to see?
In what is shaping up to be one of the most significant federal budgets in memory – or recent memory for some – there is a bit of speculation going on as to what we can expect to see announced on 6 October.
The PM says the government will need to do some heavy lifting to help Australians and the economy out from under this COVID-19 crisis.
It plans to do this with targeted spending to improve employment prospects, with the federal treasurer calling it a “jobs budget”.
“It’s going to be a great budget. It’s going to be a budget that’s going to have the most unprecedented investment in Australia’s future,” said the PM.
But where will the money go? According to 7News, here’s where:
Infrastructure
The government plans to expand two NSW dams, Wyangala and Dungowan, spend $53 million on gas infrastructure and $211 million for domestic fuel security facilities.
Hip-pockets
The PM has already floated the notion that 2.5 million pensioners will get extra help to make up for an inflation-related rise not going ahead. Let’s see if he puts our money where his mouth is. There is a chance personal tax cuts due to start in 2022 will be brought forward, the HomeBuilder package may be extended and that there will be no changes to the JobSeeker dole payments.
Business
There are talks of a business investment allowance, wage incentive for small and medium-sized businesses to take on new workers and possible incentives to support regional manufacturing. Another $800 million may be set aside to help individuals and businesses work online as well as a possible $53 million for television and film production.
Health
Telehealth and e-prescription services will likely be extended, and there should be extra funding for aged care, including help for young people to get out of residential aged care. Another $9 million fwill hopefully go towards research into cancer in children and young adults.
Education
An extra $326 million will go towards funding 12,000 extra uni places for domestic students.
Where would you like to see the money go?
Of course lots of money will go into gas, including largely unregulated fracking. Future generations will pay for this. Degradation of productive farmland and water contamination will reduce food production, with rural productivity severely reduced. Better to spend the money on non polluting renewables, the cheapest source of energy available. China is well aware of this and is spending vast amounts on renewables, so before long we won't have much of a market for our coal and gas anyway. Have you ever heard of nuclear fusion? (NO, not fission, with its radioactive waste issues that last hundreds of years.) China, France, Germany and Great Britain have and are spending large sums of money to cooperatively develop this renewable, non polluting and nuclear waste- free source of energy. We used to lead the world in this area of research, but now are only at "observer" status in the project, predicted to become viable in the next decade. Once again, 20th century solutions and short term electoral gains rule in the Canberra leadership (I use the word loosely!) bubble.