CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s third budget aims to assist low-paid workers and older Australians save for their retirement while offering an incentive for those looking to downsize their home when they reach 60. From July 1 next year, the AU$450 ($351) per month threshold for compulsory superannuation will be removed, meaning employers will have to pay super to low-paid workers, such as part-time staff and casuals. “This will improve economic security in retirement for around 200,000 women. Our plan will also make it easier for Australians to prepare for retirement and to be more secure once in retirement,”…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — The budget remains extremely conservative when it comes to forecasting the iron ore price, predicting levels around a quarter of the going rate in global commodity markets. The iron ore price has struck record highs of over AU$ 256.27 ($200) per tonnes in recent weeks, well above the AU$ 70.47 ($55) per tonnes Treasury last year forecast the red metal falling to by the September quarter 2021. It means the budget bottom line will be much improved through the addition of billions of dollars of additional revenue. This has partly helped reduce the 2020/21 budget deficit to AU$ 161…
BRISBANE, Australia — Australian Federal parliament’s defense sub-committee has issued a bipartisan call for more Pacific cooperation with “like-minded” countries. Further opportunities for defense cooperation in the Pacific alongside New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom should be investigated, the committee recommended in a report tabled on May 12. Covid-19 will continue to intensify requirements for governments and defense to cooperate with Pacific island states, and the foreign affairs department warned of more social disruption and inequality. The report cites China’s growing posture and influence in the Pacific as generating concern in the west and…
MELBOURNE, Australia — The so-called women’s budget has fallen short for many women. National Union of Students president Zoe Ranganathan claims that the budget announcements equated to about AU$6.90 ($5.3) per woman overall. “That sort of pocket change is definitely not enough to stop sexual assault,” she said in Canberra after the budget lock-up. “We need actual, real, tangible change, and that change needs to start by this government looking at their own backyard.” Eva Scheerlinck, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), agreed that much more needs to be done. “We are disappointed nothing has been done…
SYDNEY — Australia risks being the “lost kingdom” of the South Pacific, as per the tourism bosses who are angry about a lack of support in the federal budget. The 2021/22 plan leaves the tourism sector high and dry with nowhere to go until at least the middle of next year, Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said. The industry wants a clear calendar for when borders will open, she informed reporters after May 11 budget. “No timetable condemns us virtually to being the lost kingdom of the South Pacific when the rest of the world is opening up,”…
BRISBANE, Australia — Climate action is back on the streets in response to the budget’s fuel for a “gas-fired recovery.” The Australian Youth Climate Coalition joined crossbench politicians on the lawns in front of Parliament House on May 12, while Extinction Rebellion looked to push through their message with protest trucks. “The rest of the world is looking at how to use stimulus through green recovery, and this government’s wasted that opportunity,” said Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator at the post-budget event. “The environment is the big loser.” Alex Fuller from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition said young people had been shunned by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.…
SYDNEY — Australia’s aged-care system is on the pathway to transformation but more funding is still needed, leading advocates say in response to a record federal government package. The Morrison government’s 2021/22 budget includes AU$ 17.7 billion ($13.81 billion) over four years for aged care, which encompasses the coalition’s reaction to the royal commission into the sector. The government’s response covers five key areas and has been mapped out over five years, with a raft of measures including another 80,000 home-care packages and a new Aged Care Act. Australian Aged Care Collaboration spokeswoman Patricia Sparrow gave cautious support to the package.…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended his federal budget spending bonanza, which will pour billions of dollars into tax breaks, job creation, and critical services. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will join Frydenberg’s post-budget sales pitch on May 12 after the government revealed a major cash splash. With the budget largely bereft of losers, the government is preparing the ground for the next federal election due between August and May. Low and middle-income earners will have a tax break worth up to AU$1080 ($843) extended for a year, while businesses will also benefit from asset write-offs and other incentives. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right)…
CANBERRA, Australia — The Covid-19 vaccine rollout for all Australians who want their two doses is likely to be completed by the end of the year. That’s the bold prediction of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his department, underpinning much of the government’s economic recovery plan. So far 2.7 million doses have gone into Australians’ arms, but the rollout’s weekly pace will need to triple if Frydenberg is to be believed. “The vaccine is likely to be rolled out by the end of this year to all those Australians who want that vaccine,” he said on May 11. “There is the assumption…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s top-tier triple-A rating looks safe for now, even as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s third budget predicts significant deficits over the next few years, with government debt edging closer to AU$1 trillion ($0.78 trillion). “The Australian economy has rebounded at its fastest pace on record over the latter half of last year, outperforming all major advanced economies in 2020,” Frydenberg said in a statement. With JobKeeper having played its role and nearly one million jobs added since May 2020, there are now more people in work than ever before. The 2021‑22 Budget will consolidate these gains and put us on course for the unemployment…