If you ask the general public to name a group of universally despised people to be held to blame (quite unfairly) for all the ills of the world, the chances are that there’d be a shortlist of two: politicians and bankers. It is unimaginable that a politician will make a decision to harm their fellows, but the Australian Treasurer has done the next best thing by slapping a new tax on large banks.
The levy will apply to Australia’s largest five banks – ANZ Bank; Westpac; Commonwealth Bank; Macquarie and National Australia Bank. The tax is set to raise 6.2 Billion Australian Dollars over a four year period and is supported by the opposition Labor Party, unsurprisingly as the idea was borrowed from them in the first place. Unsurprisingly, the head of the Australian bankers’ Association dubbed the new tax to be: “a direct attack on jobs and growth”, but he will garner little sympathy outside of banking circles.
Labor was less welcoming about other aspects of the budget, accusing the government of using tax increases on healthcare and in other areas to fund tax reductions for big business.
The government hopes to recoup costs by pushing the burden for university costs more onto students. University fees are slated to rise by 7.5% between now and 2021 and the student debt repayment will be lowered from A$55000 to A$42000. A fee subsidy for New Zealanders is also to be ended.
The government has already announced plans for a new airport for Sydney which is expected to cost A$5 billion. Other measures outlined in the budget include an additional A$321 million for the national police force for counter terrorism purposes; and a boost of A$428 million to be spent on early childhood education.