Budget 2015: Hockey's challenge
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Don't forget to hit the refresh button for the latest updates
9.33pm: Illawarra misses out
Projects that provide a social benefit could get more federal cash, but the region’s big-ticket infrastructure projects again missed out in this year’s federal budget.
9.25pm: Retirees who have saved enough for a modest retirement are hit hard, despite the claims of fairness.
But Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed there will be "no new taxes on superannuation under this government". That is despite the tax concessions costing the budget almost as much as the age pension. The government has said that the tax concessions need to stay to encourage more people to become self funded in retirement.
9.05pm: Comment by Ross Gittins
This is the budget of a badly rattled government that has put self-preservation ahead of economic responsibility. It will do much to restore Tony Abbott's political fortunes, but next to nothing to return the budget to surplus or hasten the economy's return to strong growth.
What it's not is "dull". Turns out, when Abbott promised a dull budget what he meant was one that was the opposite of last year's.
8.57pm: Australia has slashed aid spending to Indonesia by 40 per cent and trimmed assistance to Nepal as it recovers from a devastating earthquake.
Tuesday’s federal budget confirmed a mid-year review decision to reduce the overall aid program by an unprecedented $1 billion to $4 billion in 2015-16.
Aid to Indonesia - the biggest beneficiary of Australia’s largesse - will be cut from $605.3 million to $366.4 million.
8.50pm: Tony Abbott might want to be the "Infrastructure Prime Minister" but there was nothing new to show for it in Tuesday's budget.
The WestConnex motorway, roads around Badgerys Creek and a commitment to finishing the duplication of the Pacific Highway by the end of the decade remained the government's major transport commitments for Sydney and NSW.
There was no new funding for public transport initiatives, despite renewed calls for a rail line to Badgerys Creek airport.
8.44pm: Opposition leader Bill Shorten will deliver his budget reply speech on Thursday night.
Mr Hockey had this message for him: "You can't tax your way to prosperity."
8.42pm: Ten billion dollars for families and small businesses, including a generous 100 per cent deduction on new equipment purchases of $20,000 each, and the removal of fringe benefits tax on all portable electronic devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops, lead Joe Hockey's second economic blueprint.
Dubbed the "have-a-go budget", the blueprint is a pragmatic document strong on the stimulus effect of spending and largely devoid of the harsh cuts and the losers they created in 2014.
8.32pm: New treatments for multiple sclerosis, breast cancer and skin cancer will be paid for under a $1.6 billion funding boost for subsidised medicines.
However, an expected cut in what the federal government pays for medicines failed to materialise in Tuesday’s budget.
Nor did a push to strip some over-the-counter medicines from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
8.27pm: Are you one of the winners or losers from this year's budget? Click here to find out.
8.22pm: Parents who continue to refuse to get their children immunised will save the government half a billion in welfare payments.
From January 1, 2016, all children will have to be fully immunised for their parents to get childcare fee subsidies and family tax benefits.
The only exemptions allowed will be for medical reasons.
AAP
8.15pm: Some welfare recipients will continue to have their benefits quarantined to food and essentials under an extension of the income management scheme.
The federal government has allocated $146 million in Tuesday’s budget to extend the scheme for another two years until June 30, 2017.
The scheme limits welfare spending to priority needs such as rent, food, bills and education and prohibits spending on alcohol, cigarettes or gambling.
AAP
8.04pm: Parents will get more than $10 billion a year from taxpayers to help them pay their childcare fees once new subsidies start.
The federal government will spend an extra $3.2 billion on childcare subsidies over the next four years,Tuesday’s budget confirmed.
This is on top of the $7 billion a year - and rising - existing price tag for subsidising fees.
Parents will get a single, streamlined payment to help cover childcare costs, including after-school care, once the new system comes fully into effect from July 2017.
7.55pm: The Abbott government will cut nearly $2 billion from the health system over the next five years, while pushing ahead with controversial changes to the way it funds state-run public hospitals.
7:52pm: Mr Hockey confirms one of the very unpopular measures from last year's budget - the six month waiting period for young people wanting to receive unemployment payments - has been dropped.
"That previous program is not off the table," Mr Hockey says.
Instead people aged under 25 will now have to wait four weeks before accessing the payment.
There is also $330 million to target areas with high levels of youth unemployment.
"Whether you are young or old and no matter where you live, we want all Australians to have the opportunity to get a job and stay in a job," Mr Hockey says.
7:48pm: Mr Hockey outlines the difficulties the government has faced preparing the budget - droughts in NSW and Queensland, the dramatic drop in iron prices and a weaker than expected global economic recovery.
"But I say to you, the eonomic plan laid down by this government more than a year ago, is in place and it is helping us to deal with these challenges."
"Through careful planning we are successfully navigating the difficult transition from a mining investment boom, to one of broader based growth across our economy."
7:40pm: Mr Hockey has delivered a budget he says is a "glass half full" approach to economic management.
He wants small business to be "the engine room of innovation".
From now, right now, small businesses will be able to claim immediate tax deductions for purchases up to $20,000.
And there will be tax cuts for those with an annual turnover of less than $2 million - done to 28.5 per cent from 30 per cent.
7.25pm: The federal government is about to hand down its 2015/16 budget.
Watch Treasuruer Joe Hockey's budget address from 7.30pm and stay with us throughout the evening to find out how this year's federal budget will impact the Illawarra.
- with smh.com.au, AAP