Karl's brutal budget day blow
Karl Stefanovic unleashed on the Morrison government on the Today Show on Tuesday morning with a brutal budget day slam, accusing them of spending like “drunken sailors” ahead of the election.
Appeared on the Today Show to spruik the government’s economic management ahead of Tuesday evening’s budget announcement, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham claimed Australians had experienced “lower levels of government spending” – and this caused Stefanovic to fire back.
“Sorry, where do you get lower levels of spending from?” Stefanovic said.
Senator Birmingham went on to insist that the amount of spending had seen a “nominal reduction”.
“We've been very careful to make sure that we actually squirrelled away and saved some of the dividends of the stronger economy,” he said.
Dealing with the aftershock of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rising costing of living in Australia, it is expected our government will spend around $2.5 billion to address these pressures.
Senator Birmingham said the measures, such as a one-off $250 payment to low-income workers and a reduction in the fuel excise, have been designed to get Australians through this transitional period.
“We will also have a very comprehensive package of measures to support Australians through these temporary shocks,” he told the ABC.
But the Australian Council of Social Services’ Cassandra Goldie said it won’t be enough.
“It's not going to make enough of a difference,” she told Sky News.
“For people on low and modest incomes, we need to lift the income so that you’ve got more cash in your hand and not as a one off payment.
“That's not going to cover the cost of essentials week after week after week.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg conceded cost of living pressures was the “number one topic” for Australians.
“There are real pressures right now on Australians,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“This is a responsible budget with temporary targeted measures designed to ease the cost of living pressures now, but importantly a long-term economic plan to create more jobs.”
The Treasurer’s fourth budget is expected to predict unemployment in Australia could drop to as low as 3.75% by September.
However, Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson said workers shouldn’t expect their wages to rise anytime soon.
“The job news is good for a handful of people. The weak spot is wages,” the budget expert told Sunrise.
“(Employers) have more reasons now to pay higher wages anytime since the mid-1970s. They are absolutely desperate for workers.
“But wage growth in Australia, it lifts slowly. So yes it will improve, just don’t hold your breath.”
Image: The Today Show