This week Labor will hold the Abbott Government to account for its sneaky Budget cuts through the Australian Parliament.
Australians know this Budget was the last Budget repackaged for an opinion poll.
But Australians have largely been kept in the dark on the new cuts and unfairness in this Budget.
Labor will forensically interrogate the extent and the impact of Government’s latest Budget cuts through all of the accountability mechanisms of the Parliament.
The Government has done its best to hide the latest round of cuts to health, education, families, veterans, aged care and security from the Australian people.
While the Government claimed this Budget would be good for families these cuts, on top of cuts to family payments from the last Budget, will leave Australian families worse off.
In fact, ACOSS has estimated that the combined cost of cuts to families in this Budget and the last, to be around $15 billion in total.
There is no doubt that these secret cuts will once again be felt by the most vulnerable in our community.
The Government has cut $2 billion from health and aged care but exactly where those cuts will be felt remains unclear.
We know in part that $2 billion cut to health and aged care includes:
- $125.6 million cut to Child Dental Benefits Schedule Budget Paper No.2 page 100.
- $144.6 million cut to the MBS for child health assessments Budget Paper No.2 page 103.
- $69.6 million cut to dental and allied health for Veterans Budget Paper No.2 page 180.
- $20.1 million cut from the Dementia and Aged Care Service Fund Budget Paper No.2 page 151.
But it also includes almost $1 billion cut to an undisclosed number of health programs Budget Paper No.2 page 110.
The Government must explain exactly which health programs have been targeted and who will be affected.
Labor is extremely concerned that the Government has dishonestly hidden cuts to small programs for Australians suffering severe health conditions in this $1 billion cut.
Labor will continue to stand up against this government’s short-sighted, unfair cuts that hurt the most vulnerable in our community.