A summary of the 2011/12 federal budget:
ECONOMY
- Budget deficit of $22.6 billion in 2011/12, down from $49.4 billion in the current year with $6.6 billion to help natural disaster recovery
- $3.5 billion surplus predicted for 2012/13, despite GFC costs of $130 billion over five years
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- Economic growth as measured by GDP to be 4.0 per cent in 2011/12, slipping to 3.75 per cent in 2012/13
- Unemployment of 4.75 per cent in 2011/12, falling to 4.5 per cent by mid 2013
- Inflation at 2.75 per cent in 2011/12, rising to 3.0 per cent in 2012/13
WORK FORCE
- $558 million National Workforce Development Fund to deliver 130,000 new training places over four years
- $101 million national mentoring program to help 40,000 apprentices finish training
- $100 million for more flexible training models
- Extra $1.75 billion in addition to the $7 billion already marked for vocational education and training
- 30,000 more places in the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program to provide the basic skills essential for a job
WELFARE
- $233 million for new support programs for the long-term unemployed and 35,000 targeted wage subsidies
- Strict new work tests for the disability support pension brought forward
- Participation plans to get teen parents back to work and new requirements for jobless families
- $460 million to extend the Education Tax Refund to cover school uniforms.
- Additional payment of $500 a fortnight for POW from WWII and Korea
FAMILIES
- Cuts to the effective tax rates of 50,000 single parents by up to 20 cents in the dollar, investing $80 million in their skills
- Transitioning more parents with high school kids onto job search payments
- Phasing out the Dependent Spouse Tax Offset beginning with partners under 40
- Further $300 a year of the Low Income Tax Offset to go into pay packets from July
- Increase Family Tax Benefit Part A for older teenagers by up to $4,208 a year, or $161 a fortnight
- Payment advances of up to $1,000 for Family Tax Benefit Part A recipients to meet unexpected family expenses
- Extending the freeze on the higher income limits for family payments for two more years to save $1.2 billion
HEALTH
- $16.4 billion in additional growth funding for public hospitals over six years
- $2.2 billion for mental health services
- $3.4 billion over four years for emergency departments, elective surgery and 1,300 sub-acute hospital beds
- $1.8 billion in investments in hospitals and health care for the bush
- $717 million over five years to expand access to diagnostic imaging services and make new medicines and immunisations more affordable
- $53 million will improve access to public dental services
EDUCATION
- $425 million to reward top performing teachers.
- Teach Next initiative will provide $18 million for new pathways into a teaching career.
- $200 million to support disabled school students
- $222 million to extend National School Chaplaincy program
THE BUSH
- $4.3 billion of investments in regional hospitals, health care, universities and roads
- $232 million in new strategic investments, including $100 million for suburban employment hubs and $61 million for smarter motorways.
- 16,000 skilled migration places to the regions, complemented by Regional Migration Agreements for communities with skill shortages
SMALL BUSINESS
- First $5,000 of the cost of a vehicle can now be immediately written-off by small business.
- Reduction in tax instalment payments by $700 million in 2011/12
- Small businesses to get a head start on the company tax cut that will be funded by the Minerals Resource Rent Tax.
- $34 million package to help Australian manufacturers better supply resource sector projects
- Reform fringe benefits tax for cars with a single rate regardless of how far a car is driven, saving $954 million over five years
DEFENCE
- $1.1 billion not spent in the new equipment program in 2010/11 to be handed back to the government.
- $1.3 billion cut from the equipment program over next four years.
- No cuts to uniformed defence work force but civilian side will be cut by 1000 positions
- Defence to spend $1.9 billion on ongoing operations in Afghanistan, Middle East, Solomons and East Timor.
OTHER INITIATIVES
- $36 billion for roads, railways and ports, like the Moreton Bay Rail Link in Queensland, the Gateway Project in WA, the Western Ring Road upgrade in Victoria, and duplicating the Pacific Highway.
- Increase in public service efficiency dividend, saving $1.1 billion.
- $1.06 billion for managing asylum seekers in 2011/12, a more than four-fold blowout
- $300 million to boost sport from the community level up to elite competition
