Noosa area misses out in budget
WHILE the Gillard government tries to sweeten its chances of re-election next year with cashed-up family payments, a low-income superannuation top-up of $500 and budget surplus brought about by slashing government spending in areas like defence, Noosa business has been left underwhelmed.
One of the casualties of the bid to further nullify the carbon tax impact on families announced by Treasurer Wayne Swan on Tuesday night was the failure to deliver on promised company tax cuts.
Mr Swan is selling his handouts to lower and middle-income families as "the benefits of the boom" from mining, with the Family Tax Benefit Part A increasing by $300 for families with one child and $600 a year for those with more two or more children from July 1 next year.
And $2.1 billion will be splashed on a new Schoolkids bonus worth $410 for each primary school-aged child, double for secondary students.
This will be paid next month and could help provide a handy spending stimulus to retailers, hospitality and holiday-based businesses.
But tourism centres such as Noosa will not be helped by an increase in the visitor departure tax from $47 to $55 from July 1.
Noosa Chamber of Commerce president Carl Beck said the Swan budget had delivered a "double whammy" to mum-and-dad businesses trying to stay on their financial feet.
"There is nothing in it for business and nothing for tourism. It won't deliver us anything here in Noosa," Mr Beck said.
Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss has panned the budget as doing nothing to soften the wrecking-ball blow of the carbon tax.
And he claimed the $338 million announced to further upgrade the road blackspot of the Cooroy to Curra stretch was smoke and mirrors, having been allocated previously.
"The budget offers no plan to build a better highway, strengthen the economy, improve hospital services, repay debt or create jobs," he said.
Mr Truss said local hospitals would receive no special funding to boost services or cut waiting lists.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese praised the funding for the duplication and upgrade of the Bruce Hwy between Sankeys and Traveston Rds (Cooroy to Curra Section B).
Mr Albanese said the budget also provided a record funding package of $4.1 billion over the next four years to assist the nation's councils and shires maintain and upgrade their roads, the centrepiece of which is the retention of the Roads to Recovery program until 2019.
