Labor’s candidate for McMillan Chris Buckingham is concerned the federal budget lacks specific investment in the area.
Mr Buckingham described last week’s budget as one that underfunded schools and hospitals while providing no tax relief to 82 per cent of the McMillan electorate.
“This is a budget that completely lacks vision that puts big businesses before families, pensioners or workers,” he said.
While Mr Buckingham supported the small business tax cuts, he had “serious concerns” about the “underfunded and undercosted” tax breaks the Coalition was offering corporate businesses.
“A couple with a single income of $65,000 with three kids in primary school are $3000 worse off a year and receive no tax cuts as a result of the budget,” he said.
“A single mother with an income of $87,000 with two kids in high school is $4400 worse off per year.”
Mr Buckingham said the budget also “completely missed a lack of support for pensioners”, with changes to the pensioner test.
Changes include a $1.6 million limit on retirement balances, a lifetime limit of $500,000 on non-concessional (after-tax) contributions, and a lowering of the annual concessional (pre-tax) contributions limit to $25,000.
“People who were previously independent and capable of looking out for themselves, people who worked hard to become self-funded in retirement, will now be in financial stress,” Mr Buckingham said.
“The Federal Government had three years to get it right and they have completely missed the mark.”
