Australia government targets pension in budget

12:19 • 14.04.14
Economy

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey has foreshadowed major cuts to pensions, education and health care in a series of interviews during the lead up to the Abbott government’s first budget on May 13, the World Socialist Website reported.

Speaking in Washington, where he attended meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the G-20, Hockey specifically targeted the age pension. He warned that the pension age could be lifted from 67 to 70—after being increased from 65 by the previous Labor government—and that the value of the family home could be included in the so-called assets test that determines pension eligibility.

Hockey made clear that the government’s attacks will extend across the range of social services. “It’s not just pensions and the sustainability of pensions, but it’s our health care, the quality of our education,” he said. “It’s right across the board that we now have to have a sensible discussion about the quality of life that we want to have in the future.”

Hockey’s arguments are based on fictions manufactured by the corporate and financial interests for which he speaks. The “budget crisis,” which is being used to justify the government’s sweeping measures, is in large measure a product of three decades of handouts to big business and high income recipients through tax cuts. Further tax cuts and concessions are being planned in a bid to make Australia “internationally competitive” with the low-tax regimes in Hong Kong and Singapore. 


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