Today I invite Australians families, individuals, business and community groups to submit their ideas and priorities for the 2010-11 Budget.
Australia has come through the global recession in a stronger position than any other advanced economy. The investments made during the crisis will help strengthen our recovery and lay the foundations for a new era of long-term growth.
The challenges that lie ahead will be just as difficult as the ones we have faced through this year, including the ageing of the population, reforming the tax and retirement-incomes system, reforming our health and hospitals system, tackling climate change, delivering a world-class education system and modernising our infrastructure.
It is vital that the development of public policy is informed by as wide a range of views as possible, and so I encourage any interested individuals, businesses and community groups to have their say by submitting their ideas and priorities for the 2010-11 Budget.
For the 2009-10 Budget, I received submissions from a broad range of individuals and groups. These submissions provided a real insight into the challenges that are being faced across our nation, and opportunities for the Australian Government to improve the wellbeing of all Australians.
In order to allow views to feed into the Budget process, interested parties should lodge submissions as soon as possible, and before Friday, 29 January 2010.
Submissions should also be mindful of the impacts of the global recession on revenues, as well as the Government's strong commitment to fiscal discipline and the need to offset new spending with savings.
Lengthier submissions should include an executive summary of no more than two pages, and be accompanied by an electronic version, either on disk or CD, or emailed in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format.
Submissions should be forwarded to:
Budget Policy Division
Department of the Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600
Or email to: prebudgetsubs@treasury.gov.au
Contact officer: Jason Harris
Telephone: (02) 6263 4464