Budget Hurts Disabled, Sick, Jobless: ACOSS

This is the text of a statement released by Andrew McCallum, President of the Australian Council of Social Service, the peak welfare lobby group:

In response to the Budget, Andrew McCallum, President of the Australian Council of Social Service said: "This Budget takes from poor people to pay for handouts to the better-off, turning on its head the responsibility of government to support and protect the most vulnerable in society."

"The Budget undermines the health and financial security of millions of Australians, including people with disabilities, people who are sick, and people who are unemployed. This Budget will particularly disadvantage those trying to help themselves to get off benefits and into work."

"Tougher tests for Disability Support Pensions will punish tens of thousands of people with disabilities who face significant and genuine barriers to work. The changes will shunt people with disabilities onto lower paid and tightly monitored unemployment benefits. They will lose $26 a week in payments, as well as pensioner concessions, and will have to look for up to 10 jobs a fortnight under threat of 'fines'."

"The Government's re-announcement of its commitment to spend $100 million for continuing services for people with disabilities is welcome. But it will not mean any new services and does not address the increases in unmet demand since 1997, nor any future demand, estimated to need at least a further 20% over current funding. Moreover, the Commonwealth's attempt to make its contribution to services to people with severe disabilities conditional upon the passing of laws needed to take other people with disabilities off the Disability Support Pension is unconscionable. This is holding to ransom the services for some people with disabilities in order to reduce income support for other people with disabilities."

"The postponement of the Working Credit Scheme for unemployed people - which would reduce the effective tax rate of up to 80% faced by jobless people taking on casual work - is disappointing. This was one of the key positive measures in last year's Welfare Reform package".

"We welcome a number of positive changes to the Job Network including the $850 job-seeker account and the guarantee of basic employment assistance for long-term unemployed people. However, despite these improvements there is a net $40 million a year cut in the Job Network. It is likely that Job Network services will have less to invest in helping disadvantaged jobseekers become job-ready."

"ACOSS estimates the $500 million cut to pharmaceutical benefits will raise the cost of medicines for an average Age Pensioner by about $50 a year. In addition to 1.7 million Age Pensioners, this will affect many people with disabilities and chronic illnesses."

"ACOSS welcomes the Budget commitments to invest in aged care, including for increased residential places, much needed aged care packages and to boost nursing care for older people. However, it is disappointing that this Budget has failed to address long term issues such as affordable housing for low income and disadvantage people."

"Budget cuts are not needed to protect the surplus or Australia's defence. They are paying for wasteful handouts to the better-off including:

• the reduction in the superannuation surcharge for the less than 5% of taxpayers on incomes above $85,000 a year;
• the extension of pensioner fringe benefits (including pharmaceutical concessions) and tax rebates to well-off retirees, including couples on up to $80,000 a year;
• the poorly targeted and badly designed 'baby bonus' which offers a mother on $60,000 a year five times as much for a mother on 20,000 a year.

It is this wasteful 'upper class welfare' that the Government needs to cut back - not Disability Support Pensions, help for the unemployed, and medicines for sick people".

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