Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader and Treasury spokesperson
The first Turnbull Budget has left the vast majority of Tasmanians out in the cold.
It lacked heart and vision, looked after corporations and the higher income earners at the expense of people living at the margins who are reliant on Commonwealth support.
Tasmania will disproportionately suffer as a result of massive cuts to social services including a $1.5 billion cut to Family Tax Benefits, the student bonus and further tightening of the eligibility criteria for the Disability Support Payment.
Four out of five Tasmanians earn less than $80 000 a year so won't pocket an extra cent under this Budget. At the same time, the Turnbull Government has failed to restore funding to public health and education.
There is no funding to increase the supply of affordable housing, and, ominously, the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness is not funded to extend beyond next year.
Tasmanians desperately needing a roof over their head have been ignored by the Turnbull Government which is clearly more interested in backing in the big end of town than it is Tasmanians experiencing disadvantage.
There was so little for Tasmania in this Federal Budget that the Premier, Treasurer and Infrastructure Minister were reduced in Parliament today to re-announcing existing infrastructure spends on roads, rail and the Midlands Highway.
The boost to small business is the only real good news for Tasmania in this Budget and it is warmly welcomed by the Greens in the hope that it will stimulate jobs growth, particularly in regional areas.
On the whole, this Budget points to an absolute failure of the Premier and his Ministers to argue for a better deal from Canberra for Tasmanians.