May 8 2018

Tonight was Malcolm Turnbulls last chance to fix five years of unfairness and he failed.

This unfair budget gives big business and the banks an $80 billion tax handout, and makes Australians pay for it with savage cuts.

• It fails the fairness test on pensioners Turnbull is cutting the energy supplement, costing pensioners $14 a fortnight, and forcing people to keep working until they are 70.
• It fails the fairness test on education Turnbull is still cutting $17 billion from schools, and has $270 million in new cuts to TAFE.
• It fails the fairness test on hospitals Turnbulls cuts mean Australians will be stuck on hospital waiting lists for longer.
• It fails the fairness test on Medicare Turnbulls freeze on the rebate for specialists means Australians will pay even more when they visit the doctor.

The smoke and mirrors announcement committing $180 million to upgrade the Central Arnhem road to a two-lane sealed road shows that this Federal Government has no understanding of the Territory. Estimated costs to completely seal the Central Arnhem road range from $500 million to $1 billion. The Central Arnhem road is a 663km highway clearly, the Federal Government cant add up.

The Budget fail includes a oone-offpayment of $259 million, reportedly to reduce the GST pain. Lets not forget that this is the same Government that took $2 billion worth of GST cuts last year.

The much talked about Darwin City Deal is just that all talk. It is so far down the Federal Governments agenda it doesnt even rate a mention in the Budget.

Every Budget is about choices. Yet again, Turnbull has chosen the top end of town and hes making you pay for it.

A Shorten Labor Government will make different choices.

We will improve our schools, fix our hospitals and save Medicare.

We will make university more accessible, guarantee the future of TAFE and put local jobs first.

We will deliver genuine tax relief for working Australians, protect pensioners and improve the Budget bottom line.

A Shorten Labor Government will deliver a fair go for the Northern Territory.