Retain existing sales, wholesale, petrol excise and payroll tax. Cut company tax from 39% to 33%. Cut income tax. In Jun 94 $3.30pw at $25,000 rising to $23.25 at $50,000 and above. In Jan 96 $3.30pw at $25,000 rising to $24 at $50,000 and above. No cuts below $20,000.
Coalition: Abolish sales, wholesale, petrol excise and payroll tax. Impose GST at point of consumption of all goods and services except health, education, food for home consumption, residential land. Cut income tax. In Jul 93 $2.30pw for everyone. From Oct 94 (GST day) from $6pw at $10,000 to $49.70 at $40,000 and above. Taper capital gains tax until none is payable for assets held for more than five years. No capital-gains on goodwill.
Health:
Labor: Increase Medicare levy from 1.25% to 1.4%. Buy 10,000 private beds for public patients to cut waiting lists. Basic dental care under Medicare to health card holders. Keep present AIDS funding.
Coalition: Cut $1.3bn in grants to states for hospitals which would be made up with private-insurance input. Medicare to change: no general bulk-billing; rebate cut to 75% of schedule fee; penalties of up to $800 for individuals on $35,000+ and families on $45,000+ for those failing to take out private insurance on tope of the 1.25 per cent levy. Incentives for low-income earners to get private insurance with rebates of up $800 for family, phasing out at $30,000 income.
Industrial Relations:
Labor: Continued move to enterprise bargaining with unions representing workers. Agreements to be approved by IR Commission. Accord VII gives pay rises of $8, $5 and $10 over three years award-by-award for workers who at least work towards an enterprise agreement, provided progress has been made to 500,000 new jobs.
Coalition: Unionism voluntary. Present award conditions kept until new enterprise or individual deal worked out. Workers chose whether union represents them or they represent themselves. No industry-wide awards. Employee Advocate to represent employees in dispute with employer.
Child care:
Labor: Target of 300,000 places by 1996. Child-care an un-means-tested tax deduction, paid as a rebate from Jul 1 to max of $28.20 a week for first child and a max of $61.20pw for two or more children. To cost $145m a year. $30 a week for mothers who stay at home, partly replacing dependant-spouse rebate. Benefits paid fortnightly at Medicare offices .
Coalition: Target of 360,000 places by 2000. Cash rebate of up to $25 per child per week. To cost $90 m a year. 20% of child care up to Tax rebates means tested to cut out at family income of $60,000.
Tertiary Education:
Labor: Funding legislated till 1995. Universities to get consolidated grant so they can make their own capital decisions. Minister to determine split-up of funds according to educational profile provided by universities. $52m a year extension to research infrastructure program.
Coalition: Government to fund universities through student vouchers. Government to award vouchers to value of present funding. Students chose courses and university. Universities determine own fees, courses and admission policy. Universities can take students who are willing to pay full fees but do not get government grant. $13m extra fro research grants. $25m for industry-matched research grants. $30m for new campus at James Cook University.
Training and schools:
Labor: Continuation of Government schemes for youth training and long-term unemployed.
Coalition: Redirection of funding. National standards monitoring. Per capita grants to non-govt schools up to 20% of per capita cost at govt schools. $77m more for TAFE. Rationalisation of training programs. Voucher system for youth and long-term unemployed.
Immigration:
Labor: No significant change. Rely on economic conditions to reduce intake.
Coalition: Cost recovery for immigration applications. Reduce intake to about 50,000 (from about 100,000) by more rigid application of present entry criteria. No change to refugee program.
Culture and arts:
Labor:
$26m for Museum of Australia. Culture Minister in Cabinet. $75 over four for such things as: youth orchestra, children’s TV, export publishing, film-script development, tax rebates for heritage conservation and a Foundation for Cultural Development for 2001.
Coalition: Arts loans as well as grants available. Australia Council to fund individuals, not organisations. Tax concessions to private sector. Cut $50m from ABC. Cuts to National Library and National Gallery. Total cuts $42m in Fightback.
Aboriginal Affairs:
Labor: Negotiation over Mabo claims. $10m over four years for 400 more Aboriginal pre-school places. Cultural heritage protection program. Look at Asia-Pacific Biennale of Indigenous Arts and Sciences.
Coalition: Liberals want negotiation over Mabo claims. Nationals want legislation to protect miners and pastoralists against them. Targetting of support. Cut of $90m in departmental spending of $1037m.
Defence:
Labor: No significant change.
Coalition: Reduce battalions from six to four. Cut civilian support and more commercialisation to save $500m. Most savings to go to combat capability. Review purchase of 18 F111s.
Foreign Affairs and trade:
Labor: Pursuit of Asia-Pacific market through APEC forum. Region-wide trade deals sought.
Coalition: More concentration on North American market. Review Australian troops in Cambodia. Review of York Park building for the department. Increase trade specialisation in the department. Moe bilateral trade deals.
Tariffs and industry:
Labor: Industry-by-industry schemes for cars, pharmaceuticals, steel etc. Tariff cuts for most industries to 5 per cent by 1996, but not sugar, cars or clothing. $600m bail-out of SA if SA sells State bank.
Coalition: Let market decide, with no specific help, except to sugar ($150m). Car tariff of 32.5% cut to 5% by 2000. Privatise Commonwealth Bank, Snowy Mountains Engineering, Pipeline Authority, CSL, AIDC, self-drive fleet. Create Competition Commission
Sport:
Labor: Continued support for AIS.
Coalition: Privatisation of some AIS funding. Cut of $10m to Sports Facilities Program (which is spent according to ministerial discretion). Total cut of $17m in Budget money to sport.
Transport and Communication:
Labor: No micro-wave pay television. Government to regulate pay television. Continuation of national rail network announced in One Nation.
Coalition: Open pay television to all-comers. Sell Telecom and the rest of Qantas. Laissez-faire, but no timed calls. Cut ABC and SBS by $56m. $50m for new airport at Badgery’s Creek
Housing:
Labor: $1bn a year for four years to states. Sub-contractors to be brought into award system.
Coalition: 50 per cent cut in public housing. Cut of $400m to states. Means-tested rent subsidies for people to seek private housing.
Governance:
Coalition: Six eminent Australians to advise on unemployment, industry, education and training, women and family, environment and development, and Aborigines. Make Speaker more independent. Seek bi-partisan referendum on four-year term. Minimum 20 questions in Question Time. Voluntary voting at Federal elections.
Labor: Set up committee to look at ways of creating a Federal Republic of Australia by 2001. Referendum before then, but not in next term.
Crime and justice:
Coalition: Appoint top drug-enforcement official. Truth in sentencing. $7.7 million cut in AFP funding through efficiencies. Lawyers to be able to practise anywhere in Australia. Lawyers’ anti-competitive conduct to be stopped. Cut spending of Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission through alternative dispute resolution such as private arbitration.
Labor: No significant changes announced in campaign.
Environment:
Labor: $157m for Murray-Darling. Ban mining Shoalwater Bay, Qld, until inquiry. Continuation of sustainable development program. Continuation of three-mine uranium policy. No uranium enrichment in Australia
Coalition: Time limit of 12 months for environmental approval of new projects, otherwise they go ahead. $35m for farmers to plant trees. Agreed with Labor’s Murray-Darling program. State Government’s to decide environment issues. No use of foreign-affairs power for environment. Will not rule out uranium enrichment in Australia.