In its recently released “Our Plan. Real Solutions for all Australians” statement, the Federal Coalition pledged to:
- abolish the carbon tax – “the first piece of legislation the Coalition will introduce” said Mr Abbott;
- abolish the mining tax;
- fund personal income tax cuts;
- deliver a “modest” cut in the company tax rate “funded from savings in the Budget”;
- deliver greater stability and certainty on superannuation. “We will ensure that no more negative unexpected changes occur to the superannuation system”. The Coalition statement said it was “unfortunate that Labor has wasted so much money and made so many threats and changes to the superannuation system, cutting back on contribution levels and discouraging many people from providing more for their own self-funded retirement. This has not been in the long-term interests of Australians or Australia”;
- cut government red and green tape by $1bn each year to boost productivity;
- investigate ways to get more private funding into high priority infrastructure projects. The Coalition says it will ask the Office of Financial Management to examine an Infrastructure Partnership Bonds Scheme to encourage billions of dollars of additional private investment in Infrastructure projects;
- restore the Private Health Insurance Rebate “as soon as we responsibly can”;
- deliver a Paid Parental Leave scheme to give mothers 6 months leave based on their actual wage.
Source: Coalition’s “Our Plan. Real Solutions for all Australians” statement, January 2013
[LTN 18, 29/1/13]