Page 1613 - Week 05 - Thursday, 15 May 2014
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As someone with small business experience, I can see the loss of a whole range of support programs damaging small business and their willingness to take on trainees.
Ten skills and training programs are set to be stopped from 1 January 2015, including the Australian apprenticeships mentoring program, the national workforce development fund and the workplace English and literacy program. This may result in a decrease in the uptake of Australian apprenticeships, an increase in unemployment and a subsequent growth in skills shortages. The ACT has relied on these programs.
The changes I have outlined to federal funding of health will impact on the ACT’s ability to provide acute health services and will erode gains made in recent years in terms of improvements in access to subacute care, reductions in emergency department waiting times and reductions in surgical waiting lists.
The new $7 sick tax co-payments for general practice visits may delay those on low incomes from seeking primary health care, risking symptoms developing to an acute or potentially permanently debilitating level. This could place additional pressures on ACT Health’s emergency departments and walk-in centres.
The proposed co-payment for pharmaceuticals will see people under financial stress delaying filling prescriptions for their conditions, again potentially leading to further aggravation of curable illnesses.
Targeting the sick to fund health care takes a scalpel to the most cost-effective approach to health—early intervention. The sick tax will reduce people’s access to primary medical care, where educative and preventative care is provided, as well as assessment and treatment.
The federal government is cutting $235.2 million in support for affordable housing by not proceeding with round 5 of the national rental affordability scheme. The NRAS has been a successful program that has been not only directly improving rental affordability for low income households but also driving increases in the supply of new housing stock across the country. The scheme has played a large part in improving affordability in the ACT and was seen as an important program, with support from the community, government and, crucially, the private sector.
This federal budget is nothing but a major cost shift to the states and territories—not just of health and education but of the complete human services safety net. The budget clearly targets families, young people, people with a disability and older people. The budget savings are all targeted at the vulnerable in our community. We know that poverty and low income result in poorer health and wellbeing outcomes. The Liberal federal government is cutting spending across all aspects of our lives.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (4.22): No contribution from the opposition? Interesting! Tuesday night’s budget demonstrated once again why the territory is better off under Labor governments.
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