10 Ways Young People Are Being Rooted Over In The Budget

Tax cuts for all! (Except if you're earning less than $80,000 a year).

1. The PaTH program.

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It’s the jewel in the crown of the government’s jobs plan, a scheme to get unemployed young people back into work. But there’s one catch: young people who are working 15-25 hours a week will get paid $100. Yes, people will be getting paid as little as $4 an hour. That’s remarkable.

2. (No) tax cuts.

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Upper middle- and high- income earners are getting a tax break in this budget. But if you earn less than $80,000 a year, no tax cuts for you.

3. Housing affordability.

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N/A ... literally nothing to ease the cost of housing or rent. That hot real estate market will keep getting hotter for the foreseeable future.

4. Negative gearing.

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As expected, the government has not touched negative gearing (that’s when people use investment properties to reduce their taxable income). Treasurer Scott Morrison claims tinkering with negative gearing would “increase the tax burden on Australians just trying to invest and provide a future for their families”. Plenty of young people can’t afford a house to live in, let alone an investment property.

5. University funding.

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In a decision that is sure to piss off students everywhere, the Turnbull government has committed to de-regulating university fees, just not yet. In the budget it’s called a “delay”, meaning they’ve kicked the decision on huge uni fees to after the election.

6. Passport tax.

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Thinking of getting your first passport and heading overseas? Well do it now, because passports will cost $20 more from 2017.

7. Cigarettes are going UP.

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A packet of smokes is going up and up and up. Over the next three years, taxes on tobacco will rise 12.5% ever year, meaning they’re headed towards $40 (!!) a pack by 2020.

8. Climate change.

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Climate change got a grand total of zero mentions in the treasurer’s budget speech, except when he boasted about axing the carbon tax. There is no political will to crackdown on emissions and make serious changes now. The longer the delays on serious economic action, the more that young people will pay.

9. Superannuation.

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The government has made welcome changes to how superannuation is taxed! Hooray. But newsflash, retirees and their million-dollar super funds are still tax-free.

10. Online purchases.

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This budget will slap the GST on everything you buy from overseas online. Buying a book from Amazon? That’s now 10% more expensive.