The Budget Screws Over Everyone Except The Rich
Of course, the people at the top stand to gain the most. The budget is not for us.
This week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg assured Aussies, deadpan, that the Morrison government “has our back” in terms of the 2020 budget. This statement is so hilariously at odds with reality that you’re forgiven for thinking he was doing a bit of standup.
Despite some generic lip-service for the exhausted health workers who saved thousands of lives this year, there’s almost nothing for public or preventative health in the budget. There’s nothing for the arts or music which animates our lives, and the ABC’s budget continues to shrink through some devious accounting.
As you’d expect, there’s no money for climate change or the environment, even while we rush towards another hellish fire season, and the danger of floods. And, of course, there’s no new money to address the many ways Australia disadvantages Aboriginal people.
The government will fund some university research, partly because they’ve bet everything on getting a COVID vaccine next year. Still, there’s nothing to help the tens of thousands of higher education workers who’ve lost their livelihood. And there’s no word on the fate of JobSeeker as 1.6 million people compete for ten times fewer jobs.
#Budget2020. A great opportunity to rebuild a fairer more resilient economy. And yet no plan for full employment, nothing for women, no increase to Newstart, no plan for childcare, uni sector still up sh*t creek, as is resi aged care & nothing to tackle the climate emergency!
— Ged Kearney (@gedkearney) October 6, 2020
The money shot of this year’s budget is tax breaks that would make Reagan and Thatcher salivate like Pavlovian conditioned dogs. The government plans to slash income taxes at a cost of $17.8 billion over the next four years.
Of course, the people at the top stand to gain the most. The budget is not for us.
If you earn $30,000 a year you’ll pocket around $200, while people earning $200,000 a year will hold on to an extra $2,400 in the next year. The twist is that the tax break for poor and middle-class people is a once-off, but the tax break for anyone earning over $100,000 is permanent, and will go mainly to men.
Morrison knows people will feel raw if they realise he’s shortchanging them (and about JobKeeper winding down) so he’s keen to spin the cuts as good for ordinary people. He must keep a critical mass of middle-class voters on side, say, in case he wants to call an early federal election next year.
The trick is to convince enough people that a minor tax break is a blessing. However, income tax accounts for almost half the government’s income. That money would otherwise go toward education, healthcare, infrastructure, public broadcasting, welfare, and other essential services which benefit everyone.
Around budget time there’s talk of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ and people might count themselves lucky when they get some pocket money. But who wins a few years down the track when our universities hollow out, our hospitals crack under strain, and our infrastructure crumbles?
$61.4 million for chaplains in secular schools! Holy shit. Disgraceful compared to 1:1500 ratio of actual, qualified counsellors to students #Budget2020
— Jane Caro (@JaneCaro) October 6, 2020
Advocates, economists, business groups, and unemployed folks have lined up to say that raising JobSeeker would be life-saving for countless people. The government is giving tax handouts to people on $200k instead.
Officials drone on about how this will stimulate the economy, but rich people will probably just hoard their wealth. After all, it was young and poor people who were most likely to spend their $750 COVID payment. So, not only is the approach unequal, but it’s probably pointless too.
Additionally, Canberra will throw a further $36.7 billion in tax breaks to private businesses. The idea is that if companies have more money they’ll hire more people. This is a whimsical notion which treads the line between wishful thinking and dishonesty.
Hospitality and retail workers will remember that the government promised that cutting penalty rates would “create more jobs” back in 2017. In a turn of events that should surprise absolutely no-one, this fantasy never materialised. Businesses exist to turn a profit, not to look after people.
The government wants to smooth over the youth unemployment crisis by offering bosses $200 a week to take on young employees. Presuming that businesses can afford new staff, and are willing to take them on while staring into the void of a years-long recession is a gamble at best.
It seems women have been left out of #Budget2020 even though they have been on the front lines fighting the pandemic & they have lost the most jobs.
— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) October 6, 2020
There is some good news. The number of psychology sessions you can access will double from 10-20, assuming you can afford them in the first place. While it’s not nothing, a few extra psych sessions are unlikely to help the many people the government is deliberately starving.
Rich people can swim around in their tax cuts like Scrooge McDuck while nearly a million children remain in poverty. An additional few thousand people might secure home loans while millions more face housing and rental crises. In the background, we can all brutishly struggle for a share of our ever-dwindling public services.
This is a budget made by selfish people who rule for themselves, and people like them. The relentless fiends in government have calculated that this will appeal to enough voters to win them the next election.
In the end, though, nearly all of us lose.
Joshua Badge is a queer writer and philosopher living on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne. They tweet at @joshuabadge.