Latest news with #NationalDisabilityInsuranceScheme
The Age
2 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Let's stop kidding ourselves. Taxes will have to go up
Before the election, the business press was terribly concerned about the decade of budget deficits and ever-rising public debt the Albanese government had clocked up. Something must be done! After the election, however, when the government pressed on with a move to save up to $3 billion a year by making rich men pay more tax on their superannuation, it was appalled. The sky would fall. What the two contradictory positions have in common was that both are criticisms of a government few of its business readers would have much sympathy for. But the episode also shows the way voters' attitudes towards the budget abound in wishful thinking – something the pollies encourage. 'You want more, but don't want to pay for it? Sure, I can do that.' In Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy's speech to the Australian Business Economists last week, he showed a graph of the budget's 'structural' deficit stretching all the way out to 2035-36. (The structural component of the budget balance is the bit that's left after you've allowed for the effect on the balance of where we happen to be in the business cycle of boom and bust.) The structural deficit for next financial year is estimated to be 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product. Kennedy noted that spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme is expected to reach more than our spending on defence. But he reminded us that (thanks mainly to our good friend Mad King Donald) defence spending is likely to grow a lot in coming years. And that's just the feds. The combined state and territory budget deficits are likely to be 1.8 per cent of GDP in the financial year just ending – which is 1.5 percentage points higher than their pre-pandemic long-run average, Kennedy said. So the states have been really going at it, with their combined debt at the end of this month expected to reach 18.9 per cent of GDP, its highest in the 30-plus years they've had control over their own finances. 'We are sitting on a wretched generational bargain, and it has gone on for long enough.' Aruna Sathanapally, Grattan Institute And yet politicians, federal and state, persist in running election campaigns where they promise bigger and better spending on this, that and the other, without any mention of how it will have to be paid for. Worse, no matter how much they've promised, the Liberals always claim that their taxes will be lower than Labor's, without this having any effect on their spending on 'essential services'. (Perhaps this boils down to a promise not to rely on bracket creep – the 'secret tax of inflation' – quite as much as Labor does.)
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Let's stop kidding ourselves. Taxes will have to go up
Before the election, the business press was terribly concerned about the decade of budget deficits and ever-rising public debt the Albanese government had clocked up. Something must be done! After the election, however, when the government pressed on with a move to save up to $3 billion a year by making rich men pay more tax on their superannuation, it was appalled. The sky would fall. What the two contradictory positions have in common was that both are criticisms of a government few of its business readers would have much sympathy for. But the episode also shows the way voters' attitudes towards the budget abound in wishful thinking – something the pollies encourage. 'You want more, but don't want to pay for it? Sure, I can do that.' In Treasury secretary Dr Steven Kennedy's speech to the Australian Business Economists last week, he showed a graph of the budget's 'structural' deficit stretching all the way out to 2035-36. (The structural component of the budget balance is the bit that's left after you've allowed for the effect on the balance of where we happen to be in the business cycle of boom and bust.) The structural deficit for next financial year is estimated to be 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product. Kennedy noted that spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme is expected to reach more than our spending on defence. But he reminded us that (thanks mainly to our good friend Mad King Donald) defence spending is likely to grow a lot in coming years. And that's just the feds. The combined state and territory budget deficits are likely to be 1.8 per cent of GDP in the financial year just ending – which is 1.5 percentage points higher than their pre-pandemic long-run average, Kennedy said. So the states have been really going at it, with their combined debt at the end of this month expected to reach 18.9 per cent of GDP, its highest in the 30-plus years they've had control over their own finances. 'We are sitting on a wretched generational bargain, and it has gone on for long enough.' Aruna Sathanapally, Grattan Institute And yet politicians, federal and state, persist in running election campaigns where they promise bigger and better spending on this, that and the other, without any mention of how it will have to be paid for. Worse, no matter how much they've promised, the Liberals always claim that their taxes will be lower than Labor's, without this having any effect on their spending on 'essential services'. (Perhaps this boils down to a promise not to rely on bracket creep – the 'secret tax of inflation' – quite as much as Labor does.)
Scoop
3 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Australia: PWDA Calls For Clarity And Inclusion Following Delays To Foundational Supports Rollout
Press Release – People with Disability Australia – PWDA PWDA welcomes the Governments ongoing commitment to disability reform and stands ready to work collaboratively to ensure foundational supports are implemented in a way that is timely, inclusive, and sustainable. People with Disability Australia, the national peak representative and advocacy body, is calling on the Federal Government to provide greater clarity and to consult more closely with people with disability, following the announcement that the rollout of foundational supports – scheduled to begin on 1 July 2025 – will be delayed. Foundational supports are designed for people with disability who are not eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). They are especially relevant for Autistic children and people with psychosocial disability. The delay has created uncertainty in the community about when and how these essential supports will become available. PWDA President Trinity Ford said that while the disability community understands the complexity of implementing this reform, and the need to get it right from the start, it is critical that all people with disability are brought along and involved. 'Many people with disability who are not eligible for the NDIS still have real and ongoing support needs,' Ms Ford said. 'These foundational supports will hopefully create a more inclusive and equal network of disability supports. But delays and uncertainty around the rollout's details, timelines and co-design means people with disability are still waiting – unsupported and without answers.' PWDA emphasises that early intervention and accessible community-based supports are key to improving long-term outcomes for people with disability, particularly those who have historically fallen through the cracks of service systems. 'We're calling on the Government to communicate transparently about next steps and to ensure people with lived experience of disability are at the centre of future planning,' Ms Ford said. 'It's vital that the design and rollout of these supports reflect the diversity of our community – including people with psychosocial disability, children with developmental concerns, and others who are not being serviced by the NDIS.' PWDA welcomes the Government's ongoing commitment to disability reform and stands ready to work collaboratively to ensure foundational supports are implemented in a way that is timely, inclusive, and sustainable.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Australia: PWDA Calls For Clarity And Inclusion Following Delays To Foundational Supports Rollout
People with Disability Australia, the national peak representative and advocacy body, is calling on the Federal Government to provide greater clarity and to consult more closely with people with disability, following the announcement that the rollout of foundational supports – scheduled to begin on 1 July 2025 – will be delayed. Foundational supports are designed for people with disability who are not eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). They are especially relevant for Autistic children and people with psychosocial disability. The delay has created uncertainty in the community about when and how these essential supports will become available. PWDA President Trinity Ford said that while the disability community understands the complexity of implementing this reform, and the need to get it right from the start, it is critical that all people with disability are brought along and involved. 'Many people with disability who are not eligible for the NDIS still have real and ongoing support needs,' Ms Ford said. 'These foundational supports will hopefully create a more inclusive and equal network of disability supports. But delays and uncertainty around the rollout's details, timelines and co-design means people with disability are still waiting – unsupported and without answers.' PWDA emphasises that early intervention and accessible community-based supports are key to improving long-term outcomes for people with disability, particularly those who have historically fallen through the cracks of service systems. 'We're calling on the Government to communicate transparently about next steps and to ensure people with lived experience of disability are at the centre of future planning,' Ms Ford said. 'It's vital that the design and rollout of these supports reflect the diversity of our community – including people with psychosocial disability, children with developmental concerns, and others who are not being serviced by the NDIS.' PWDA welcomes the Government's ongoing commitment to disability reform and stands ready to work collaboratively to ensure foundational supports are implemented in a way that is timely, inclusive, and sustainable.
7NEWS
4 days ago
- 7NEWS
Police reject independent probe into death in custody of Indigenous man with disability at Cole in Alice Springs
Calls for an independent probe into a young man's death in custody have been rejected by police after an emotional vigil. Family and supporters shed tears and demanded justice when they gathered in Alice Springs CBD on Friday to remember the mentally disabled 24-year-old. The vigil was held at the Coles supermarket where the young man from the small desert town of Yuendumu was restrained by two police officers. 'We want justice,' the man's grandfather, Yuendumu elder and Warlpiri man Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves told the packed gathering. The young man, who is understood to have been under a guardianship order and on a National Disability Insurance Scheme plan, allegedly assaulted a security guard who accused him of shoplifting. A police investigation has been launched after the man fell unconscious while restrained on Tuesday and died about an hour later at Alice Springs Hospital. Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy believes an independent death in custody probe may be warranted. She said wounds had been reopened for the people of Yuendumu by the latest incident after 'many traumas'. 'In the interest of having some separation, calls for an independent investigation may be warranted. It may be important to do that, given that there is such tension,' Senator McCarthy told ABC. 'Tragic death' Advocates such as Amnesty International have also backed an independent investigation to 'ensure impartiality and to maintain public confidence in the process'. But NT Police on Friday 'respectfully' rejected the suggestion, saying their investigation would operate under strict protocols with full transparency and be independently reviewed by the coroner. 'The Northern Territory Police Force acknowledges the tragic death of a 24-year-old man in Alice Springs on Tuesday,' Acting Commissioner Martin Dole said in a statement. 'On behalf of NT police, I extend sincere condolences to his family, friends and community. 'I understand the high level of public interest in this matter. However, I respectfully reject calls for the investigation to be handed to an external body.' The acting commissioner said he had spoken with Senator McCarthy about her suggestion and conveyed his confidence in the 'robust and well-established' system of oversight in place. 'I also expressed my full confidence in our detectives and the independent processes already in place within the NT Police Force,' he said. 'We ask the community to allow the investigation to take its course. We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts.' The incident has sparked widespread anger, with hundreds attending Friday's vigil. Family and supporters demanded answers during speeches, asking witnesses to come forward. They then entered the Coles supermarket wearing ceremonial paint and carrying branches. 'Further investigation' Police late on Thursday alleged the 24-year-old man assaulted a woman not known to him in the Alice Springs CBD prior to the Coles incident and said they were investigating. They also revealed an autopsy had found the man's death was 'undetermined'. The preliminary result would require 'further investigation to provide any substantive cause of death', NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said in a statement. The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Rolfe was in 2022 found not guilty of all charges over the death. The latest death has prompted the Yuendumu community to consider postponing a June 10 visit by Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to announce her findings in the case.
