NSW Not Fooled by Treasurer Perrottet’s Pretty Packaging

Commenting on the 2019-20 NSW Budget, Greens spokesperson for Treasury and Finance Abigail Boyd said that it’s like the unveiling of a new Apple product – essentially the same product as last year’s, with new features we didn’t want, none of the old problems fixed; wrapped up with spin and pretty packaging.

“What do we expect from a government that calls the people of New South Wales its ‘customers’?

“With that corporate mindset, it doesn’t take much to imagine who they think their ‘shareholders’ are.

“The Treasurer celebrated NSW’s supposed ‘collective wealth’ but there is nothing collective about the wealth of the state of NSW.

“In Sydney, the top 20% of income earners have an income around five times higher than those in the bottom 20%. As household debt and expenses continue to skyrocket, median wages have flat-lined. One in six people are living in poverty.

“The level of detail and transparency in this budget is at an all-time low, with very limited disclosure on how much they plan to spend on individual programs and services. We shouldn’t have to wait for Budget Estimates to tease out that sort of information from Government Ministers.

“This budget continues the Coalition’s unhealthy obsession with maintaining a surplus. In other words, they will continue to take more from the private sector than they give back – right at a time when the private sector is less able to take on more debt.

“This budget tells us a lot about who and what the Liberals think are important.

“Where’s the spending on environmental rehabilitation? On frontline domestic and family violence services? On breaking the cycle of disadvantage?

“Again, it is public sector workers and the most vulnerable people in society who will pay the price for this government’s stubborn allegiance to discredited neoliberal ideals of small government and low taxes,” said Abigail Boyd.Commenting on the 2019-20 NSW Budget, Greens spokesperson for Treasury and Finance Abigail Boyd said that it’s like the unveiling of a new Apple product – essentially the same product as last year’s, with new features we didn’t want, none of the old problems fixed; wrapped up with spin and pretty packaging.

“What do we expect from a government that calls the people of New South Wales its ‘customers’?

“With that corporate mindset, it doesn’t take much to imagine who they think their ‘shareholders’ are.

“The Treasurer celebrated NSW’s supposed ‘collective wealth’ but there is nothing collective about the wealth of the state of NSW.

“In Sydney, the top 20% of income earners have an income around five times higher than those in the bottom 20%. As household debt and expenses continue to skyrocket, median wages have flat-lined. One in six people are living in poverty.

“The level of detail and transparency in this budget is at an all-time low, with very limited disclosure on how much they plan to spend on individual programs and services. We shouldn’t have to wait for Budget Estimates to tease out that sort of information from Government Ministers.

“This budget continues the Coalition’s unhealthy obsession with maintaining a surplus. In other words, they will continue to take more from the private sector than they give back – right at a time when the private sector is less able to take on more debt.

“This budget tells us a lot about who and what the Liberals think are important.

“Where’s the spending on environmental rehabilitation? On frontline domestic and family violence services? On breaking the cycle of disadvantage?

“Again, it is public sector workers and the most vulnerable people in society who will pay the price for this government’s stubborn allegiance to discredited neoliberal ideals of small government and low taxes,” said Abigail Boyd.

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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NSW Not Fooled by Treasurer Perrottet’s Pretty Packaging

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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