Public Sector Wages

Welfare groups slam tax cuts

The poorest one quarter of Australian families and households would gain nothing from further tax cuts and would face high charges and long waiting lists for health, education and community services, according to the Australian Council of Social Service.

ACOSS President Andrew McCallum said:

"The major political parties should rule out any prospect of further tax cuts."

"Tax cuts are double trouble for one in four Australian families who are too poor to pay tax."

"Age pensioners and jobless people such as sole parents, people with disabilities and unemployed people would gain nothing from a tax cut but would still be faced with big gaps in essential health, education and welfare services."

"Further tax cuts would be a major drain on the public purse that would prevent action in key areas, such as:

Reducing the long and often painful waits for treatment in public hospitals and providing more bulk-billing GPs and better community health care
Fixing the shortage of aged care places and expanding services to people with disabilities
Ensuring there are enough affordable university & higher education places for students
Making child care and pre-school more affordable by reducing the average 'gap fee' of over $50 a week for fulltime care for children of working families
Reducing public housing waiting lists -- over 200,000 people are currently waiting

"The Access Economics plans for a $3 billion tax cut are unfair. Under Plan B, 50% of all full time workers -- those earning less than $40,000 a year -- would gain less than $5 a week and most part-time workers would gain nothing. Under Plan A, 75% of full time workers would gain nothing."

"More tax cuts would come hot on the heels of the Government's $2.4 billion tax cut announced in the Budget. The cost of these cuts -- though small in the actual dollars going into people's pockets -- are seven times the value of the Government's high education package and eleven times the value of its Medicare package."

"It makes no sense to provide more tax cuts while there are big gaps in our public health, education and welfare systems."

"Recent opinion polls show the public knows this and would prefer increased spending on necessary public services rather than tax cuts."

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© 2001 Community & Public Sector Union - State Public Services Federation (CPSU-SPSF) - National Office

http://www.cpsu-spsf.asn.au/latest_news/public_sector_wages/20030917_tax.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005