LIVE: Reaction to last night’s federal budget as Australia weathers coronavirus recession

7 Oct 2020 8:02am

Women have been 'left out and left behind' in federal budget

My colleague Maani Truu also brings you this story on warnings from Labor and women's advocacy groups that women have been "left out and left behind" by the federal budget.

The government has announced a $240 million package aimed at boosting women's participation in the workplace including $25.1 million towards new cadetships and apprenticeships.

But Labor and unions are concerned not enough has been done to address "significant job losses" in industries dominated by females.

"They deserved better than they have been treated by the government," ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.

Here's the story:

Women were hit hardest by coronavirus job losses and now they're 'left out' of the budget

7 Oct 2020 7:55am

How have business, unions and farmers responded?

Here's some more early response to the budget from key stakeholder groups:

Business Council of Australia:

Jennifer Westacott, Business Council of Australia CEO: "This is a budget that puts the private sector back on top to create those jobs, to get the country going again."

Australian Council of Trade Unions:

Michele O'Neil, Australian Council of Trade Unions president: "There's real missed opportunities about doing something for women's work here. The biggest one the government missed of course is reintroducing free childcare."

National Farmers Federation:

Tony Mahar, National Farmers' Federation CEO said: "This is a good budget for farmers, and good budget for rural and regional economies and we hope that the Australian agriculture sector can continue to kick start the economy so that we can grow the Australian farming sector."

7 Oct 2020 7:43am

Budget a 'crushing let down' for many out of work

There will be lots of reactions from advocacy groups breaking down what the budget really means today.

The Australian Council of Social Services has delivered a mixed review, welcoming the government's wage subsidy for 16-35 year olds, but also warned others out of work have been let down.

They oppose the government's bringing forward of tax cuts saying the money would be better spent on boosting welfare support for those in need.

ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie said the budget had failed to deliver certainty to almost a million unemployed Australians by not delivering a permanent increase to the JobSeeker rate.

"The Budget does not deliver enough investment to pull us out of the historic slump we’re in without leaving people behind," she said.

The Government will need to do more to ensure that we are all in the recovery together."

7 Oct 2020 7:40am

What does the budget mean for Indigenous Australians?

Our colleagues Natalie Ahmat and Shahni Wellington over at NITV have produced a very handy run down of the budget's big points of interest for Australia's First Nations people.

Check it out here.

7 Oct 2020 7:31am

'We're going to come out of this stronger': PM downplays vaccine assumptions

The Prime Minister and Treasurer are doing the media rounds this morning selling the government's economic recovery plan.

The government is forecasting that a “population wide vaccine program” to the coronavirus would be “fully in place by late 2021”.

But Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the ABC the federal budget's success won't solely depend on this outcome.

"The bringing forward of tax cuts and the tax cuts that are in this budget, the support for hiring new employees with their JobMaker hiring credit, the instant asset write-off taken to ferric levels to ensure businesses can write off everything to create jobs, none of this is dependent on a vaccine or not," he said.

7 Oct 2020 7:20am

Tax cuts, wage subsidies and a record deficit

Before we get into bringing you reaction to last night's federal budget - here's a quick breakdown of some of the main points:

- $74 billion stimulus and personal income tax cuts

- $35 billion in business tax breaks

- A $213 billion deficit with the nation's net debt set to climb to $1 trillion.

- International border restrictions to see population growth downgraded by more than a million people by 2022.

- A $4 billion JobMaker hiring credit to provide a wage subsidy for employees aged 16-36.

- Age pensioners to get $250 economic support payments in December and March.

7 Oct 2020 7:19am

Our 2020 Budget Calculator

If this all feels too convoluted, you can punch your basic details into our nifty Budget Calculator below. It’ll give you an idea how much money you might be better off over the next financial year:

7 Oct 2020 6:56am

What happened last night?

In case you missed them, we published a raft of budget stories last night. Here's a quick round-up:

It's Australia's most crucial federal budget in decades. Here's what it means for you

Who are the winners and losers from the 2020 federal budget?

Federal budget unveils record deficit as government spends big to survive coronavirus

Australia's net migration intake drops to negative levels for the first time since World War II

Number of Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions doubled in wake of coronavirus pandemic

7 Oct 2020 6:51am

Welcome back!

Good morning and welcome to the SBS News live blog for today, where we’ll be looking at the MASSIVE 2020 federal budget unveiled last night.

My name is Tom Stayner and I’ll be bringing you all the main reaction and analysis. There's already been a lot of people saying a lot of things.

So without further ado, let's get cracking.

LIVE: Reaction to last night’s federal budget as Australia weathers coronavirus recession

Follow the SBS News live blog today as we analyse last night's historic federal budget and get all of the reaction from around Australia.

Women have been 'left out and left behind' in federal budget

READ MORE

How have business, unions and farmers responded?

Budget a 'crushing let down' for many out of work

What does the budget mean for Indigenous Australians?

'We're going to come out of this stronger': PM downplays vaccine assumptions

Tax cuts, wage subsidies and a record deficit

Our 2020 Budget Calculator

What happened last night?

Welcome back!

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next

LIVE: Reaction to last night’s federal budget as Australia weathers coronavirus recession

Follow the SBS News live blog today as we analyse last night's historic federal budget and get all of the reaction from around Australia.

Women have been 'left out and left behind' in federal budget

READ MORE

How have business, unions and farmers responded?

Budget a 'crushing let down' for many out of work

What does the budget mean for Indigenous Australians?

'We're going to come out of this stronger': PM downplays vaccine assumptions

Tax cuts, wage subsidies and a record deficit

Our 2020 Budget Calculator

What happened last night?

Welcome back!

previous

2of2

next

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