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Highest taxing Government keeps on taxing on
Mark Latham - Shadow Treasurer, Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
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Media Statement - 30 September 2003
There is a simple explanation for the increase in the budget surplus announced today: income tax on families is up; and spending on health, education and community services for families is down.
Today's figures reveal that income tax is up from $118 billion in 2001-02 to $129 billion in 2002-03. That is an increase of $11 billion, a fraction under 10per cent.
This means income tax is growing twice as fast as the economy.
At the same time, the Government is spending even less than it planned on basic services for families – in community services, health and education.
In true pollie-speak, the Treasurer calls this "parameter changes". Translated into English, that means real people got less help from the Government last year.
At the same time as families are paying more tax and getting less help, the Treasurer has presided over a deterioration in the Commonwealth's net worth. Commonwealth net worth – that is, total assets minus total liabilities – actually deteriorated from negative $47.6 billion for 2001-02 to negative $50.4 billion for 2002-3. Despite the Treasurer's boasts about debt reduction, this is the fourth consecutive year in which net worth has deteriorated.
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