Charlotte Varcoe
MEMBER for Barker Tony Pasin has hit back at the Federal Budget, claiming he was yet to find an increase in funding for South Australia.
The Federal Budget was handed down on Tuesday with the cost of living, health and power bill relief at the top of the list.
Overall there is projected to be $14.6b allocated in the Government’s cost of living plan including help with power bills, bringing down out of pocket health costs, supporting vulnerable Australians and creating more affordable housing.
Wage increases for aged care workers was also a major talking point when Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said as he handed down the budget earlier this week.
Those on Jobseeker, Youth Allowance or Austudy will receive an extra $40 per fortnight and a 15 per cent increase for those receiving rental assistance.
There was also $590m invested into the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, $72.4m to retain and recruit more early childhood educators and $1.9b for First Nation’s health, housing, education, employment and other essential services.
Speaking with The Border Watch, Mr Pasin said he was concerned about the Federal Budget, claiming Australians would be “poorer” because of it.
“It is clear the Labor Government has no plans to help Australians with the cost of living crisis because the average Australian family with children will be $25,000 worse off a year,” Mr Pasin said.
“That is a combination of impact of interest rates, energy bills and cost of living otherwise including groceries.”
He said this budget was a real opportunities for the Federal Government to assist Australians with the cost of living crisis but instead it “pitted Australian against Australian”.
“There are some Australians which receive a handout in this budget but the hard working Australians in employment are paying for those handouts, pinning hardworking Australians against others and developing a class of working poor,” Mr Pasin said.
“These are people who get up in the morning, work hard, earn an income but as a result of increase taxes and high inflation, they are poorer at the end of the week, end of the month and end of the year.”
He said he would have rather see measures to address the cost of living including inflation which is up by about six per cent.
“In terms of Jobseeker there are currently about 500,000 unemployed Australians with almost as many job vacancies and what we need to see is Australians going from welfare to work,” he said.
“We need to make sure discussions are kept around how to get people from welfare into jobs and a lot of small businesses are desperate for staff so I want to take people from unemployment into employment because it is better for them, their family, the community and the economy.”
Mr Pasin also expressed concern around the future of the current housing crisis, claiming there had been a lot of merit but low delivery by the Federal Government.
“To make things worse we are told to expect about 700,000 migrants into Australia next year and the following year,” he said.
“If people think the housing crisis is at breaking point right now, there are going to be hundreds and thousands of new arrivals which will put more pressure on it and I am genuinely concerned.”
Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell also commented on the Federal Budget, stating there were some positives to come out of it.
“There are some positives in the Federal Budget for our region and our state and two particular areas I am happy to see some changes in are youth allowance and aged care,” Mr Bell said.
“The announcement that aged care workers will get a wage increase of 15 per cent is both necessary and timely, when many regional areas are experiencing major skills shortages.”
He said the elderly deserved the “best care possible” and he was pleased to see the industry “attract the attention it deserves”.
Mr Bell said young people would also be better off with the increase in Jobseeker, Austudy and Youth Allowance.
“Many young people from our region have to move to a capital city to study and now, those students will be $40 a fortnight better off under the Austudy Allowance increase,” he said.
“This will be a significant help to both those studying and the parents that support them, so another budget measure that will have an impact on our region.”