A Birthday and a Budget
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
I've now clocked up 54 sweet years on this planet.
As a gift from the universe, I am now in COVID lockdown as my daughter has tested positive. She is OK, although it is not something you would wish on anyone, I certainly do not want it. More importantly, I do not want to pass it on to anyone who may be more vulnerable to serious complications from COVID.
As another timely gift, my night's entertainment will be watching the budget.
What sweeteners will there be for marginal seats this year? Are we now marginal? I suspect we may be! But you know what, even if we are marginal, the money should always go where the money needs to go.
Our tax dollars are not there to sure up seats for the electoral ambitions of the parties.
Importantly, what slice of the cake will Aged Care, NDIS, and the National Recovery and Resilience Agency get?
A new report from the Australia Institute shows:
The total value of future fossil fuel subsidies already committed in Federal, state and territory budgets is $55.3 billion – more than 10 times the balance of Australia’s Emergency Response Fund ($4.8 billion in Dec 2021), while $11.6 billion is 56 times the budget of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency.¹
Will there be funding for a Federal Integrity Commission? There was nothing budgeted at all in 2021². It was a glaring omission, especially as an integrity commission this was an election promise³. It is almost like they didn't want one. Am I being cynical? Yes.
In 2021 the funding for a "gas-fired recovery" vs a green one was staggering. Last year the UN found Australia had done the least among the world's largest economies to enable a green recovery.⁴
And so, we wait for the budget to be revealed. I will watch it tonight at 7.30, it is not exactly a hip hip hooray birthday event, but it is an extremely important event.
Final note - if you have not signed up for our newsletter - make sure you do. We have important newsletters coming soon about ways you can help us WIN the election. This is vital. We need you to make this happen.
To Quote Margaret Mead "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world."
or in our case
"never doubt the actions of an electorate that has been taken for granted for 12 years can create their own positive change"
²The 2021 federal budget included nothing about a government integrity commission (smh.com.au)
⁴Australian fossil fuel subsidies surge to $11.6 billion in 2021-22 - The Australia Institute