RELEASE
Commenting on today’s release in The Australian Financial Review of his alternative budget, Liberal Democrats’ Senator David Leyonhjelm has called on all politicians to outline how they would balance the budget.
"Most non-government politicians call for their favourite government spending programs to expand, but they fail to outline how they would pay for this," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"Some non-government politicians call for tax increases, but never by the amount necessary to cover their devotion to ever-increasing government spending.
"Not being in government is not an excuse. The Parliamentary Budget Office is available to all non-government politicians to cost policies that add up to a balanced budget. Non‑government politicians who fail to present an alternative budget are being intentionally evasive.
"If you can’t outline how you would balance the budget, you shouldn’t vote against the Government’s occasional proposals to pare back spending. Yet Labor, the Greens and various crossbenchers continue to do just that."
Today Senator Leyonhjelm presented an alternative budget for the fifth year in a row. It reflects comprehensive Parliamentary Budget Office costings, published at www.pbo.gov.au, of the policies of the Liberal Democrats.
The alternative budget would halve the size of the Commonwealth Government spending. This would balance the budget, start paying off debt, and allow an unprecedented cut in annual tax of $8,000 per Australian on average.
Highlights of the alternative budget are outlined in the attached factsheet.
The full alternative budget can be accessed here.
$20.5 billion of spending cuts that don’t need Senate approval, so the budget can be balanced regardless of what Labor and the Greens think.
· These cuts involve abolishing departments (including Industry, Environment, Communications, Arts) and agencies (including CSIRO, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Indigenous Business Australia)
· 34,000 public service jobs in Canberra would be cut, and the operating costs of the remaining public service would be cut by 4%
Further spending cuts of more than $200 billion, which, if rejected by the Senate, should be taken to the next election.
· Cutting welfare to save $2,400 per Australian
· The funding of patients, not health companies and bureaucrats
· Removing the Commonwealth from State affairs, like education
The biggest tax cuts in history - $8,000 per Australian on average:
· A flat income tax rate of 20%, and a $40,000 tax free threshold
· A 20% company tax rate
· Make electricity, tampons and sanitary pads GST free
· Abolish tax on imports, fuel, cars, alcohol and tobacco
· Abolish tax on super contributions and earnings, taxing only the resulting withdrawals
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