Small business owner: Anthony Sadek
- Pharmacist for 25 years. He has run his own business in Guildford in Sydney’s west for 11 years.
- He says Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme reforms, or cuts to what the government pays for medicines, have hurt his business.
- He would welcome a small business tax cut and plans for small business owners to accelerate the depreciation of purchases over one year. He say he would use the extra cash to put on more staff or invest in his business.
- He is very concerned about the government’s debt, and says his number one request from Canberra is more common ground between the two major parties.
Young family: James Ansuma, Aminata Tengbeh and their three children
- Both James and Aminata work full time in Sydney. James teaches at TAFE, while Aminata is a case worker helping to settle new migrants.
- They both arrived as refugees from Sierra Leone. James in 2006, and his wife Aminata in 2010.
- Their three children go to Family Day Care five days a week. After government benefits, their out of pocket child care expenses is $561 per fortnight.
- Aminata has recently earned a degree, and wants to work, but the high cost of childcare is forcing her to weigh up whether it’s worth it.
- What happens on Budget night will impact her decision.
The young family: Here’s what we want from the Budget
Pensioner: Ces Conte
- Retired and living with his wife in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
- Worked as a school teacher and counselor after migrating from Italy in 1966.
- He says politicians don’t really understand what it’s like to live day-by-day.
- He says pensioners, who built up the country, deserve budget certainty – not constant reform – in their later years.
Farmer: Martin Honner
- The married father of three is a fourth generation farmer in the Riverina region of NSW.
- He says the government must match the agriculture industry’s commitment to research and development dollar-for-dollar
- Martin says free trade agreements have opened up our food markets to poorer global producers, so he says bolstering quarantine and improving food-labelling should be budget priorities.
- He says for too long politicians have put too much focus on the growth opportunities in the mining sector rather than the agriculture sector. He says to enable growth, regional infrastructure like rail lines must be improved.
We'll speak to these everyday Australians again this Wednesday for their reactions to Joe Hockey's Budget.
Share
