Fairness, honesty and suitability of policy must be at the heart of next week’s budget so that the document does not tank like last year’s, the opposition leader Bill Shorten was set to argue in his major pre-budget address.
Shorten contests that the 2014 federal budget did not fail because it was “too exciting, too visionary or too bold”, but rather that major policy objectives stalled in the Senate because they were “fundamentally unfair”.
“We can’t afford a dull budget or an ordinary effort, any more than we can afford a rerun of last year’s disaster,” Shorten was due to tell Sydney University’s McKell institute on Monday.
“We can’t afford an outbreak of shallow populism any more than we can afford a repeat of last year’s extreme ideology.”
The opposition leader says there are three major tests for the next budget, due on 12 May: whether it is suitable for the future, whether it is honest and responsible, and whether it is fair.
“Incredibly, a week before this year’s budget, we are still talking about last year’s budget. Last year, the Liberals called the economy wrong and Australians have paid the price.”
Labor is calling on the government to take on its policy objective of tightening superannuation concessions for wealthy Australians by charging 15% tax on super earnings over $75,000. It says that measure will bring in $14bn over 10 years.
It is also proposing that the government can add $2bn to its coffers by closing loopholes on multinational tax avoidance, such as changing guidelines on what can be classified as company assets, and allowing the Tax Office to have greater oversight over big international firms.
“Fairness means asking those with the broadest shoulders to do the most, not leaving the heavy lifting to those Australians least able to carry the load,” Shorten’s speech notes say.
The opposition leader planned to put pressure on the government to end the impasse on the renewable energy target, saying that the “transition to a low pollution economy [will make] our industries more competitive, harnessing our natural resources and protecting our national estate.”
The government is standing firm on its offer of 32,000 gigawatt hours, up from its original offer of 26,000. Labor has offered a compromise of 33,500 gigawatt hours.
