MEDIA RELEASE: NSW Labor budget leaves money on the table while leaving people behind

Greens NSW initial response to the NSW Labor Budget 2024/25.

Quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW Treasury Spokesperson:

“This NSW Budget papers paint a grim picture of the lived reality for the more than 8 million people across our State. In the midst of soaring cost-of-living pressures with unemployment predicted to grow and record housing stress, the Treasurer has handed down a steady-as-you-go budget that simply doesn’t meet people where they are.

“What NSW needs right now is leadership and ambition and a government unashamed to take revenue from those who should be more fairly paying their share in order to provide much-needed funds for the benefit of those who need it most.

“NSW Labor has failed to implement even the modest tax reforms required to keep pace with other states when it comes to property and luxury vehicle taxes, let alone taken up the Greens calls for a far more ambitious suite of taxes targeted at big consulting firms, gig worker platforms, religious institutions, the super-rich, gambling companies and the fossil fuel industry.

“While we welcome the studious way in which the Treasurer has sought to cut waste and minimise costs in the government’s day-to-day operations, and we are relieved not to see cuts to essential services, fixing the mistakes of 12 years of economic mismanagement by the Coalition also means investing in areas neglected for so long. And that will require raising far more revenue that the bean counters in Treasury will be able to offer up.

“To provide a measly additional $15.6m on top of the already-announced so-called “emergency funding” of $230 million to tackle the domestic and family violence crisis is insulting. How loud do we need to yell before the NSW Government takes this issue seriously? After decades of underfunding, the NSW Labor government couldn’t even provide even a modest uplift to the core funding of domestic and violence services across our State.

“The simple fact of the matter is that when it comes to housing, this budget is going to make the problem worse. Homelessness has doubled in the last two years, and this Budget is making a commitment to build less than half of the amount of social housing that is needed just to keep pace with the increasing numbers of people needing help.

“But shamefully, in amongst all of the other belt tightening for the rest of us, the NSW Government has still found millions of dollars available to reduce the royalty obligations to black coal miners - a direct and undeniable subsidy to an industry that continues to make money hand over fist while the planet burns and energy bills get higher.”

- Ends -

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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MEDIA RELEASE: NSW Labor budget leaves money on the table while leaving people behind

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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