Time to show support for the ABC

The situation in 2018.......

The Guardian, 8 May 2018:

Dear colleagues,

The government has tonight announced it will freeze the ABC’s annual funding indexation for three years from July 2019, which will cost the organisation $84m. This will be compounded by the decision to cease a further $43m in funding to support quality news and current affairs services and follows the cumulative $254m in cuts imposed since 2014.

This decision comes at a critical time for us. As you are all aware from our conversations following this year’s annual public meeting, we are at a watershed moment as a public broadcaster as we continue to strive to deliver the high standards of programming Australian audiences expect, despite escalating global competition and rising production costs.

Let me be frank with you: I am very disappointed and concerned that after the measures we have introduced in recent years to deliver better and more efficient services, the government has now seen fit to deliver what amounts to a further substantial budget cut. This decision will make it very difficult for the ABC to meet its charter requirements and audience expectations.

However, we will continue to pursue our strategy during triennial funding negotiations with the government this year to achieve the proper levels of funding we require to meet the expectations of not only our current audiences but those of the next generation.

Our priorities have and always will be to our audiences and the programming we create for them. Our success in this is a tribute to the talent, dedication and high-quality work of our teams right across the country and the world.

Our public interest journalism, breaking news coverage and independent analysis are highly valued by the community, including across regional Australia. The drama, comedy and children’s content we deliver every hour are likewise important to the cultural life of the country. And services like triple j, RN and ABC Local remain crucial channels for audiences everywhere to join the national conversation.

Unfortunately, the government has overlooked this contribution and the trust and value more than 80% of Australians place in us as an independent national broadcaster.

In a statement in response I have made clear this decision will have an impact on our audiences.

We will continue to oppose the decision and seek every opportunity to reverse the cuts in the coming months before they take effect.

Michelle Guthrie

Abc.net.au, Statement, 8 May 2018:

The Government’s decision to freeze the ABC’s indexation from July 2019 will cost the broadcaster $84 million over three years and will be compounded by the decision to cease a further $43 million in funding to support quality news and current affairs services.

This decision comes at a critical time for the ABC as it commences triennial funding negotiations with the Government and comes on top of a cumulative $254 million in cuts imposed since 2014.

The ABC’s independence and its commitment to in-depth analysis and commentary has never been more valued or trusted by Australian audiences, nor so critical to the challenges facing the nation.

ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie said the impact of the decision could not be absorbed by efficiency measures alone, as the ABC had already achieved significant productivity gains in response to past budget cuts.

“The ABC is now more important than ever given the impact of overseas players in the local media industry and the critical role the ABC plays as Australia’s most trusted source of news, analysis and investigative journalism,” Ms Guthrie said.

“Our talented and dedicated content makers consistently deliver award winning public interest journalism, regional services and critically acclaimed original Australian programs and content.

“Stable, adequate funding is essential if we are to continue to deliver for Australian audiences.”

The ABC’s long-term strategy published at an Annual Public Meeting in February 2018 outlines the broadcaster’s plan to respond to changing audience expectations, and to remain as relevant in the future as it always has been in the past.

The ABC will continue to negotiate its funding requirements with the Government to ensure it can deliver on this commitment to a future which ensures the ABC remains relevant in the digital age.

Ms Guthrie also rejected as unnecessary the proposed efficiency review given efficiency programs introduced by the ABC in recent years.

Time to pick up that pen and object to this funding freeze........

Prime Minister Hon. Malcolm Bligh Turnbull MP

Parliament House

Canberra, ACT 2600

PH: (02) 6277 7700

FAX: (02) 6273 4100

Online email at https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm

Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Michael McCormack MP

PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

PH: 02) 6277 7520

Minister for Communications and Minister for the Arts Senator Hon. Mitch Fifield

Parliament House

Canberra, ACT 2600
PH: (02) 6277 7480
EMAIL: Minister@communications.gov.au

Minister for Regional Communications Senator Hon. Bridget McKenzie

PO Box 6100
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

PH: (02) 6277 3200

FAX: (02) 6277 5755

Local MPs by Electorate contact details here.

Political Cartoons of the Week - Budget Week Edition

Cathy Wilcox

Alan Moir

John Shakespeare

David Rowe

Mark David

Peter Broelman

Quotes of the Week

“Meeting the narrow test of legality is not a licence to be a bastard”  [Journalist Peter Hartcher writing  about corporations in The Canberra Times, 5 May 2018]

“budget's forecasts and projections, prepared by that well-known Italian economist, Rosie Scenario”  [Economics editor Ross Gittens writing in The Sydney Morning Herald about Federal Budget 2018-19, 8 May 2018]

Entrenching inequality in the Australian way of life

There are no real winners in this 2018-19 federal budget – everyone loses something because funding/staffing cuts include services which affect the smooth running of the country, such as regulatory oversight, law, policing and communication. 

Partial winners in the longterm are those in the two highest income/asset deciles. The Anthony Pratts, Gina Rineharts, 'Twiggy' Forrests, Bruce Mathiesons, Malcolm Turnbulls and Peter Duttons of this world.

Those losing the most are low income households, especially those dependent on welfare payments and those with an annual  salary/wage between $41,000 to $87,000 because they will be assessed under the same tax rate as now but with less of the tax benefit pie on their plates in the future.

Federal Budget 2018 Facts of Life - a non-exhaustive list

* Funding in this budget does not fully compensate for funding cuts and tax increases in the last three federal budgets.

* Cuts from previous budgets are still impacting on health services; education funding for schools and vocational studies have been reduced by a combined total of $17.27 billion, funds for the public broadcaster are frozen representing a loss of $84 million on top of $254 million in budget cuts since 2014.¹

* Cuts are also occurring in:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with permanent funding  cut from $346 million to $320 million over two years and staff numbers reduced by 30 investigators in the next year.

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with funding cut from $77.4 million to $73.75 million in two years.

The Australian Federal Police funding cut from $1.03 billion to $926 million within four years.²

* Although the federal government is contributing $43 billion, to fund what it calls its “share” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) from 2018–19 to 2021–22, there is still no dedicated funding stream for NDIS.

* Rural, regional and remote area health is only receiving 16.66 million a year for five years to improve health outcomes in those areas across Australia – none of which appears to go directly to treatment of patients or additional services.

* Personal income tax cuts aren’t being offered to those on taxable incomes below $20,548 per annum. Those workers with a taxable income of $20,548 will receive $1 a year in income tax relief. It is reported that the full range of personal income tax relief (which provides the most benefit to the highest earners) will eventually cost est. $17.8 billion annually in lost government revenue if scheme continues until 2027.³

* Individuals earning $100,000 to $125,330 per annum now receive a low and middle income income tax offset despite being in high wage/salary deciles.

* There are estimated 101,508 older Australians on the waiting list for appropriate home care packages.⁴ At least 60,000 of these do not have even the initial lowest level of home care package and, all the federal government is offering is funding for an extra 14,000 high level packages still leaving 46,000 elder people with no hope of receiving assistance in the foreseeable future to keep living at home.

* There is a proposal to change the progressive tax system from 2018-19 so there are only four income tax brackets and people with incomes from $41,000 to $200,000 per annum will pay the same tax rate. This means that est. 62 per cent of future benefits would go to the highest salary/wage earners with only 7 per cent going to those on the lowest wage.⁵ 

According to Budget Strategy and Outlook Budget Paper No. 1 2018-19; When completed, the plan ensures that about 94 per cent of taxpayers are projected to face a marginal tax rate of 32.5 per cent or less in 2024–25.

* People over retirement age receiving the Age Pension are being urged to consider funding part of their retirement through the Pension Loans Scheme which will be expanded on 1 July 2019, with the available fortnightly loan plus pension amount increasing to 150 per cent of the maximum rate of fortnightly Age Pension. The current maximum fortnightly pension amount is $907.60. This loan will normally be repaid when the secured real estate asset (usually the principal home) is sold or from the pensioner’s deceased estate.⁶

* This budget continues the funding model which skews federal primary and highschool funding towards private schools via the Quality Schools scheme with funding for government schools set at $7.6 billion and non-government schools at $11.8 billion in 2018-19 increasing to $9.6 billion and 13.8 billion in 2021-22 .<sup>7

* The Northern Territory remote area Aboriginal children and schooling component has been cut by over $47 million across the next four financial years.</sup>

*TAFE further technical education funding has been cut by $270 million on top of previous budget cuts.

* The Goods and Services Tax has been extended to cover online hotel bookings made via offshore websites. This is expected to raise $5 million in the 2019-20 financial year.

* Mobile blackspot program funding ceases in 2019.⁸

* The cashless debit card trial in Ceduna (South Australia) and East Kimberley (Western Australia) will be extended for another year to 30 June 2019. The federal government refuses to make the costs of this measure public.

* Part or all of a welfare payment will be withheld to clear a welfare recipients court fines or address arrest warrants.

* There has been no increase in unemployment benefits.

* Women & girls necessary sanitary products are still subject to a consumption tax payable at the supermarket/chemist checkout.

* Finally, the Turnbull Government cracked a joke in the budget papers – a new National Energy Guarantee is expected to reduce annual residential power bills by $400 at some unspecified date in the future.⁹

Footnotes:

1. http://theconversation.com/budget-2018-boosts-aged-care-rural-health-and-medical-research-health-experts-respond-96100

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/may/08/budget-2018-peter-costello-slams-budget-management?page=with:block-5af1743ae4b0123ab0021348

https://theconversation.com/budget-2018-whats-in-store-for-education-95510

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-08/budget-2018-abc-funding-frozen-in-$84-million-hit-bottom-line/9740690

2. http://www.afr.com/news/policy/budget/federal-budget-2018-asics-shock-26m-budget-cut-20180509-h0zud4

3. https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/incometax.html?income=20547

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/17-8b-a-year-the-cost-of-the-turnbull-government-s-personal-tax-cuts-20180509-p4ze88.html

4. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-03/govt-scrambles-amid-growing-queue-for-home-care-packages/9387692

5. http://www.tai.org.au/node/4227

6. https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2018/d18_13635_budget_2018-19_-_factsheet_-_more_choices_for_a_longer_life_-_finances_for_a_longer_life.pdf

7.https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/bp3/download/Budget%20Paper%203.pdf

8. http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-05-09/budget-2018-mobile-blackspot-funding-ceases/9741786

9. https://budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/essentials.html

Before everyone gets too excited about those personal tax cuts in Budget 2018-19

According to the Turnbull Government Budget 2018-19 papers, eligibility for the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (aka personal income tax cut) will assist over 10 million Australians, with about 4.4 million taxpayers with incomes between $48,000 and $90,000 receiving the full $530 benefit for 2018–19.

The non-refundable offset is calculated on “taxable income” which is “equal to an individual’s assessable income (such as salary and wages and interest from bank accounts) minus their allowable deductions”.

The announced ‘tax cut’ has a life of four financial years and technically ceases after 2021-22. 

It will not see actual tax rates change and will not see the dollar amount in wages paid on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis alter.

The 'tax cut' will be applied by the Australian Taxation Office and form part of any tax refund due after tax returns are lodged in 2019.

The bottom line is that any person with a taxable income of less than $20,548 will not receive the announced personal tax cut according to the Budget 2018-19 website income tax calculator.

https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/incometax.html?income=20547

Those with a taxable income of est. $20,548 on 30 June 2019 will receive exactly one dollar a year as a ‘tax cut’ for the next four years.

One would have a taxable income of est. $21,600 to get a ‘tax cut’ of $200 a year for the next four years.

However the first $18,200 of any individual’s personal income is currently exempt from taxation.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Individual-income-tax-rates/

Hopefully for the purposes of calculating any tax refund the budget measure includes in "taxable income" the first $18,200 on which no tax is payable.

Otherwise this budget measure means that anyone with an annual wage of $38,747 ($18,200 tax exempt + $20,547 taxable income) will not receive the announced ‘tax cut’ for low and middle income earners.

There is nothing found in Budget Measures Budget Paper No. 2 2018-19 or on the Budget 2018-19 website which clarifies the situation.

Heard Budget Speech 2018, read this morning's headlines? Now hunt the dollars using this cheat sheet

Because there is a great deal of sleight of hand in federal government annual budget announcements, to be sure that what the Turnbull Government is planning doesn't make life harder for you, your family and community everyone needs to read the fine print.

Budget Paper No. 1: Budget Strategy and Outlook - provides:

* information about the international and domestic economic outlook, including numerical estimates of key parameters such as gross domestic product (GDP) growth, employment, and the consumer price index (CPI)

* a statement of the Government’s fiscal strategy and the fiscal outlook of the Commonwealth (that is, the Government’s outlook and strategy for revenue, notably taxes)

* estimates of the revenues and expenditures of the Commonwealth, and their composition

* information on the proposed capital investment of the Commonwealth • information on the assets, liabilities—including contingent liabilities, or ‘risks’—and debt held or owed by the Commonwealth, and

* historical information about the Commonwealth’s fiscal and debt position. 

Go to: 

https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/bp1/download/BP1_full.pdf

Budget Paper No. 2: Budget Measures - contains information about the budget measures/policies Government intends to pursue and each measure will have a costing attached to it.

Go to: 

https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/bp2/download/bp2_combined.pdf

Budget Paper No. 3: Federal Financial Relations -  contains information about financial assistance grants made by the Commonwealth to States and Territories. Includes specific purpose payments for health, education, roads, local government.  Also provides estimates of the amount of GST revenue that will be collected, and estimates of how much each state and territory will receive from the GST.

Go to:

https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/bp3/download/Budget%20Paper%203.pdf

Budget Paper No. 4: Agency Resourcing - deals with various types of appropriations that are used by the Government to fund entities and activities. Shows the amounts and types of appropriation that are expected to be utilised in the forthcoming year.

Go to: 

https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/bp4/download/BP4_full.pdf

[Sources http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/4523572/upload_binary/4523572.pdf & https://www.budget.gov.au/2018-19/content/documents.html]

Repeat after me: Australia is a low-taxing country, a low-taxing country.....

“Australia is a low-taxing country. While tax debate in Australia tends to focus on tax rates, with endless comparisons of different countries’ rates of different taxes, these debates ignore the fact that Australia raises far less tax revenue than most developed countries.

This is not a problem in itself. There is no right or wrong level of taxation. However, the level of tax revenue raised inevitably affects governments’ ability to fund essential services such as health, education, social security, defence and infrastructure. Polling consistently shows that the Australian public would prefer higher levels of spending on public services than lower tax collection.” [The Australia Institute, 17 April 2018]

In two weeks time a federal government ideologically glued to cutting company tax and spending big on infrastructure on the back of ever-decreasing taxation revenue will deliver its 2018-19 Budget Papers.

So Prime Minister Turnbull and Treasurer Morrison will ignore polls like this one, because the only voters with influence are found in the ranks of political donors, big business and industry.

The Australia Institute, 18 April 2018:

Small government has small support - National poll

A large national poll of 1,557 Australians, released today by think tank The Australia Institute, has shown 64% of people want more public spending funded by tax revenue. Just 11% want lower taxes and less public spending.

* Two-thirds (64%) said they would prefer more public spending, funded by more tax

   revenue, and less inequality.

* Only 11% said they wanted lower public spending, lower tax and more inequality.

* A majority of voters for all parties selected the more spending and more tax option:

* 56% of both PHON voters and Other voters;

* 60% of LNP voters;

* 71% of ALP voters;

            * 75% of Green voters.

Polling Brief - April 2018 - more or less spending tax inequality.pdf

P521 Australia a low tax country.pdf