Shock Budget detail reveals Australia’s international border will be shut until mid-2022 – another YEAR away – and it could get worse if there’s another Covid-19 outbreak

16 May

Shock Budget detail reveals Australia’s international border will be shut until mid-2022 – another YEAR away – and it could get worse if there’s another Covid-19 outbreak

Venatius Agbasiere Uncategorized 0 0

Australians won’t be travelling overseas until at least the middle of 2022
That’s according to Federal Budget 2021 forecasts released on Tuesday
Officials assume there will be a ‘gradual’ return to normal travel after that
Last year the government predicted borders would be open by October 2021

By DANIEL PIOTROWSKI IN CANBERRA FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Australians won’t be travelling overseas again until at least the middle of 2022 the government predicts – in a major shift on its previous claim that the border could reopen by October this year.

Government forecasts released in federal budget documents on Tuesday say that inbound and outbound international travel into Australia ‘will remain low through to mid-2022.’

But officials assume there will then be a ‘gradual’ return to normal travel after that point.

‘Safe travel zones’ will be established, as Australia has done with the New Zealand travel bubble.

Australia’s borders to the outside world will remain virtually shut through to mid-2022 according to federal budget forecasts released on Tuesday evening

Last year the Government predicted international borders would be open in October 2021 after the whole adult population has been offered a vaccination.

However, this timeline has now been pushed back as Australia’s vaccination rollout falls behind due to supply shortages and vaccine hesitancy.

Even when the borders open, Treasury officials admit the number of Aussies travelling overseas won’t return to pre-pandemic levels for some time.

Tonight’s forecast is only a government assumption which could be wrecked at any point by a serious Covid outbreaks or mutant virus variants.

At the weekend, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the border would remain closed ‘indefinitely’ to protect the Australian way of life.

‘We sit here as an island that’s living like few countries in the world are at the moment,’ he said.

‘We have to be careful not to exchange that way of life for what everyone else has.’

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s budget contained the ‘assumption’ that overseas travel will not return until 2022

Overseas travel for Australians is unlikely until at least mid-2022, according to federal budget documents revealed on Tuesday evening

Australians have been banned from leaving the country since March 2020 unless granted special exemptions.

Only citizens, permanent residents and some visa holders have been allowed to enter under some of the strictest Covid-19 border rules in the world.

The budget documents also say the government expects occasional Covid-19 outbreaks to plague the country throughout the rest of the year.

However, they believe they will successfully be contained by authorities.

The government also believes there won’t be ‘extended or sustained state border restrictions’ this year.

But the government is at the mercy of the virus and premiers such as West Australia’s Mark McGowan on that.

International students are likely to begin trickling back into the country at the end of 2021 and re-enter Australia in increasing numbers in 2022.

BUDGET 2021/22: ALL THE WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

Small Business – Incentives to innovate and grow

Taxpayers – Extended relief for low and middle income earners

Elderly – More home care packages and a radical overhaul of aged care system

Women – Steps towards better safety and respect in the workplace

People with mental health issues – Big focus on new types of services

LOSERS

Underemployed – Virtually no mention of underemployment as an issue

Recreation and culture sector – Drop in funding of 19 per cent in real terms over next four years

Sport sector – Drop in expenses of 42 per cent in real terms over four years

National parks – Drop in expenses of 19 per cent over four years

Rural assistance – To fall by 39 per cent in real terms over four years

Air transport – 75.6 per cent dip in expenses over four years

SUMMARY OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET

ECONOMY

* Budget deficit of $106.6 billion in 2021/22

* Deficit narrows to $99.3 billion in 2022/23, $79.5 billion in 2023/24 and $57 billion in 2024/25

* Commonwealth net debt to rise to $617.5 billion in 2021/22 before hitting $980.6 billion in 2024/25

* Economic growth to rise by 4.25 per cent in 2021/22, before easing to 2.5 per cent in 2022/23

* Unemployment rate of 5 per cent in 2021/22, before falling to 4.75 per cent the following year

* Inflation as measured by CPI to be 1.75 per cent in 2021/22

TAXATION

* Extra $7.8 billion in tax cuts for low and middle income earners, worth $1080 for individuals or $2160 for dual-income couples

* $25.1 billion of announced personal tax cuts will flow to households in 2021/22

BUSINESS

* Extension of temporary full expensing for an extra year to June 30, 2023.

* Temporary loss carryback extended to include the 2022/23 income year

* Both measures will deliver an extra $20.7 billion in tax relief for businesses over four years

* Small businesses to get an easier path to pause or modify tax office debt recovery action through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

* $16 billion in tax cuts for small and medium sized businesses by 2023/24

* $1.2 billion aviation and tourism sector package

* $1.5 billion modern manufacturing strategy

HOUSING

* Extension of the HomeBuilder construction commencement period

* Further 10,000 places under the New Home Guarantee for first home buyers

* From July 1, 10,000 guarantees will be made available over four years for single parents to build a new home or buy an existing home with a deposit of as little as two per cent

* From July 1, 2022, First Home Super Saver Scheme voluntary contributions maximum amount will rise from $30,000 to $50,000

INFRASTRUCTURE

* Extra $15.2 billion in infrastructure spending over the decade

* $215.4 million to support investment in dispatchable power generation

* $1.2 billion over 10 years for low-emissions technology

EDUCATION

* $2 billion over four years for early childhood education, supporting access to at least 15 hours a week for all children in the year before school

* $289 billion in recurrent funding for schools over the decade

* 5000 extra short-course places at non-university higher education providers in 2021

THE BUSH

* $3.5 billion National Water Grid Fund

* $414.5 million biosecurity package

* $172.5 million to be allocated out of the Future Drought Fund for projects, such as climate and soil data gathering

* $250 million extra from the Building Better Regions Fund

* Reinsurance pool for northern Australia backed by $10 billion government guarantee

* $189.6 million for ‘Our North, Our Future’ five year plan

* National Recovery and Resilience Agency and Australian Climate Service to be set up, in response to bushfires royal commission

DIGITAL ECONOMY

* $100 million to build digital skills

* Digital games developers to get 30 per cent refundable tax offset

* $200 million to overhaul the MyGov online system

WOMEN

* $1.1 billion for supporting victims of violence, including financial and legal help and emergency accommodation

* $20.5 million to implement the Respect@Work report by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins

* $26.2 million for online safety initiatives

* $1.7 billion extra for child care, increasing the subsidy for the second and subsequent child

* Removal of the $450 per month superannuation threshold

* $38.3 million women’s leadership program

* Subsidised treatments for certain types of breast cancer

HEALTH

* $2.3 billion for improved and expanded mental health care and suicide prevention

* Mental health plan includes new adult mental health centres, Medicare listings, suicide prevention services and workforce improvements

* Further $1.9 billion investment in the vaccine rollout, expanding the number of doses on order to 170 million

* Investigating local production of mRNA vaccines

* Patent box to be introduced, giving a tax break for income derived from Australian patents in the medical and biotechnology sectors

AGED CARE

* $17.7 billion to fund aged care reforms

* New funding model to start in October 2022

* 80,000 extra home care packages

* Extra 33,800 training places to boost the aged care workforce

INDIGENOUS

* $243.6 million Indigenous budget, including skills and jobs programs and improved access to government services in remote areas

VETERANS

* Extra $460.4 million for veterans, including a royal commission into defence and veteran suicide

ENVIRONMENT

* $29.3 million initial response to reform of environmental protection laws

DISABILITY

* Extra $13.2 billion for the National Disability Insurance Scheme over four years

RETIREES

* Extension of pension loans scheme, allowing a single person to receive lump sum payments of up to $12,385 a year or $18,670 for a couple

* Repeal work test to allow Australians aged 67 to 74 more flexibility to contribute to their superannuation

* Minimum age of the downsizer superannuation contribution to be lowered from 65 to 60, allowing a post-tax contribution of $300,000 per person when they sell the family home

SECURITY

* $1.3 billion over 10 years for ASIO

* $467.7 million to bolster domestic detention capabilities

* $747 million to upgrade four military training areas in the Northern Territory

– Australian Associated Press

Please follow and like us:

Shock Budget detail reveals Australia’s international border will be shut until mid-2022 – another YEAR away – and it could get worse if there’s another Covid-19 outbreak

BUDGET 2021/22: ALL THE WINNERS AND LOSERS

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts