The federal budget will have an enormous impact on the people of Lalor … for all the wrong reasons, according to its Labor MP.
Joanne Ryan said almost no voters in her electorate would see any benefit from tax cuts announced in the budget.
The median household income in Werribee is $52,000, and 79.3 per cent of Lalor residents earn less than $80,000.
“This government is giving tax cuts worth thousands to millionaires, while people earning under $80,000 will be getting absolutely zero from this government,” Ms Ryan said.
“On top of that, they have backed in the 2014 cuts to the family tax benefit, which will leave some families in my electorate $4500 worse off.”
Ms Ryan said the budget offered nothing to the electorate in terms of infrastructure.
“It seems this Prime Minister and Treasurer don’t know Victoria exists,” she said.
“I know growers in Werribee South would have woken up to go poring through the documents to see if there was any relief to assist in the funding of the modernisation of the irrigation district. But there was no money.”
On education, Ms Ryan said the government’s announcement of $1.2 billion for schools wasn’t enough.
“This is far from years five and six of Gonski and far from what was promised in 2013,” she said. “This is incredibly disappointing … for everybody who works in education, for every parent in this country who was giving this government an opportunity to keep the promise they made.”
Treasurer Scott Morrison described the budget as “the foundation on which we can build a brighter, more secure future in a stronger, new economy with more jobs”.
The Liberal candidate for Lalor, Gayle Murphy, did not respond to Star Weekly’s request for comment.
