Families living in Western Sydney will bear the brunt of Tony Abbott's commitments to increase taxes and cut support to families.
New analysis of ABS data shows the brutal damage an Abbott Government would inflict on the region's hard working families.
Mr Abbott's commitments include:
- Scrapping the tripling of the tax free threshold
- Axing the Schoolkids Bonus
- Abolishing family payments from the Household Assistance Package
This all comes on top of Mr Abbott's recent statements confirming that the Coalition will also get rid of superannuation support of up to $500 a year to 3.6 million Australians on modest incomes.
These payments and tax cuts are helping Western Sydney families doing it tough with cost of living pressures, as are lower interest rates.
Rate cuts under Labor mean that a home owner with a $300,000 mortgage is $5000 a year better off than they were under the high rates the Liberal Party saddled them with.
Of course, the Liberal Party had rates go up ten times on the trot when they were last in office, six times after they fraudulently promised the Australian people to deliver rates at 'record lows'.
Tax hikes
More than half a million hard working men and women in Western Sydney will pay higher taxes if Mr Abbott becomes Prime Minister.
Mr Abbott has said very clearly that he will increase taxes by scrapping the government's tripling of the tax free threshold.
In total, 565,000 people in Western Sydney are affected by Mr Abbott's tax hike.
That means that every individual earning up to $80,000 a year will see their taxes increase, most by $300 a year.
This includes 45,000 people in Western Sydney - mostly women working part time - who are currently not paying income tax at all.
The tax free threshold tripled from $6000 to $18,200 a year on 1 July 2012 as part of the Household Assistance Package.
Lifting the tax free threshold delivered tax cuts to all taxpayers with incomes of up to $80,000, with most receiving at least $300 a year, but many part time workers receiving up to $600.
Simply put, under Mr Abbott, every Australian who earns less than $80,000 a year will pay more income tax.
Payments scrapped
Mr Abbott's commitment to claw-back payments will whack over 150,000 Western Sydney families.
Mr Abbott has announced that he will axe the Schoolkids bonus and abolish the Household Assistance Package.
The Schoolkids Bonus is worth $410 a year for primary school students and $820 a year for secondary school students to families who receive Family Tax Benefit Part A.
Abolishing the Schoolkids Bonus means a family in Western Sydney with two kids will be $15,000 worse off over the life of their child's education.
There are more than 115,000 families in Western Sydney, with more than 200,000 children, who are eligible for the SchoolKids Bonus.
A family with three kids, two in primary school, one in secondary school, is eligible for the Schoolkids Bonus and the Household Assistance Package with a family income up to $133,000 a year.
The Household Assistance Package increases payments to families who receive FTB Part A by up to $110 per child and by $70 per family for those who receive FTB Part B.
A lump sum advance payment was made in June last year, and ongoing supplements will be paid from 1 July 2013.
156,000 families in Western Sydney are eligible to receive payments under the Household Assistance Package.
Families can receive FTB Part B if they are single income families whose primary earner is on less than $150,000 a year.
What the damage will total for Western Sydney families
Example one: Fairfield
The median family income in Fairfield is $106,000.
This family in Fairfield with two kids, both in primary school, Dad working full time earning $86,000 a year and Mum working part time earning $20,000 a year will be almost $1500 a year worse off.
Mum will pay $600 more tax, and they will lose $820 in School Kids Bonus and $72 in house assistance payments.
Example two: Penrith
The median family income in Penrith is $118,000.
This Penrith family, with three kids – aged 7, 11 and 15 – where both parents work, Dad earns $70,000 and Mum earns $48,000, will be $2300 a year worse off.
Dad will pay $253 a year more tax, and Mum will pay $303 a year more tax. They will lose $1640 in Schookids Bonus and $280 in household assistance payments.
Families the target of Mr Abbott's vicious cuts
It is clear that Mr Abbott has hard working families right in the firing line to account for his epic $70 billion budget crater.
This is an unacceptable assault from Mr Abbott on the families of Western Sydney.
By promising a Newman-style Commission of audit, the sad reality is that this will just be the beginning of the vicious cuts that we can expect from an Abbott Government.
SYDNEY