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2008 Australian federal budget

Field	Value
title	Australian federal budget 2008–09
country	Australia
previous_budget	Australian federal budget, 2007–08
previous_year	2007–08
next_budget	Australian federal budget, 2009–10
next_year	2009–10
image	Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
imagesize	250px
submitted_to	Parliament of Australia
date_submitted	13 May 2008
parliament	[42nd](2007-australian-federal-election)
party	Australian Labor Party
treasurer	Wayne Swan
Total_Revenue	A$312.961 billion
Total_Expenditures	A$287.764 billion
tax_cut	A$46.7 billion (over 4 years)
surplus	A$21.703 billion
url	https://web.archive.org/web/20080722023208/http://www.budget.gov.au/2008-09/content/overview/download/Budget_Overview.pdf
below	‡Numbers in italics are projections.

Note: Surplus excluded earnings from Future Find

The 2008 Australian federal budget for the Australian financial year ended 30 June 2009 was presented on 13 May 2008 by the Treasurer of Australia, Wayne Swan, the first federal budget presented by Swan, and the first budget of the first Rudd government.

It had a particular emphasis on family welfare (expansive tax cuts and a lift in the threshold of the Medicare levy surcharge) and capital investment (national accreditation) funds. Swan described it as "a A$55 billion Working Families Support Package" that "strengthens Australia's economic foundations, and delivers for working families under pressure" from increasingly high interest rates.{{cite web |url-status=dead

Major policies

Total spending was cut, following on from gradual cuts of nearly 2% of GDP over the decade of the Howard government. Changes to taxation prompted then Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull to claim the increased taxation will contribute to inflation, but Swan argued{{cite news |access-date = 2008-05-14

A new $3 billion tax increase on alcopop drinks was designed to slow down a projected increase (from the Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, tabling Treasury advice) in alcopop sales by 43 million bottles, curtailing binge drinking. However, the opposition described the increase as merely a revenue raiser, with Shadow Health Minister Joe Hockey arguing that consumers of alcopop will switch to other drinks, such as champagne, and binge drinking will not decrease. In response, the Prime Minister told Federal Parliament that the tax increase had wide support in medical and alcohol support services.{{Cite news

An increase to the luxury car tax was defeated in the Senate, with Steve Fielding of Family First joining the coalition in blocking the budget legislation. It had been supported by the government, the Australian Greens, and independent Nick Xenophon. It was later passed by all non-coalition Senators after amendments were made.

Reception

The World Wildlife Fund of Australia has criticised the ambiguity of the Budget's timeline for developing coal pollution mitigation technology, while the Australian Conservation Foundation has urged the government to reconsider taxes that promote the creation of pollution. However, multinational real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle lauded the $90 million Green Building Fund, which subsidies half the cost of fitting office blocks with environmentally friendly design features.{{Cite news |access-date = 2008-05-14

Senior citizens representative group Seniors Australia criticised the budget for not increasing the seniors pension, and Carers Australia expressed dismay over the lack of change for carer payments. A day after the Budget's release, the government promised a future inquiry into carer and pensioner payments and asserted that the pensions will increase after a specialised review.{{Cite news

References

"Budget Speech 2008–09 Delivered on 13 May 2008 on the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill (No. 1)".
[http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/one-vote-costs-555m/2008/09/04/1220121382925.html One man blows $555m hole in budget over luxury car tax: SMH 4/9/2008]
"Luxury car tax bill passes Senate: The Age 24/9/2008".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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