Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens' Leader
The Hodgman Liberal Government has epically failed to stand up for Tasmania, with the State comprehensively missing out in the Federal Budget.
While Tasmania missed out any substantial infrastructure investment as a result of the Hodgman Liberals' failure, Tasmanians looking for a home or reliant on welfare are the big losers out of this Budget.
Scrapping the National Affordable Housing Agreement will place Housing Tasmania's budget in a more precarious situation, with funding for affordable housing to decline in real terms.
Not one extra cent has been allocated to increasing the supply of public housing while negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions will continue to advantage investors over first home buyers.
The State's public housing waiting list has reached almost 4,000, with priority cases waiting over 10 months for a house, and people applying who may not usually be eligible simply because there are no private rentals available. Tasmania is on the tipping point of a housing crisis, and the Federal Budget has done little to ease that.
The conservative attack on welfare recipients and young people continues.
Young Tasmanians aspiring to get a tertiary degree will face higher fees and a HECS payback timeframe which is short sighted and will ensure young people are saddled with debt early in their working lives.
There is nothing fair about this Budget for Tasmania.
In a State with around a third of all people reliant on Commonwealth support, the cruel and ideological attack on welfare recipients will hit hard.
Savage cuts of $1.8 billion in the first Abbott Budget have not been reversed or mitigated, another failure of the Hodgman Government to advocate for the State.
While certainty over the NDIS and homelessness funding is welcome, this Budget has left Tasmania out in the cold.