The government wants the new PPL scheme in place by March next year but has said it'll engage and consult with stakeholders before then.Īccording to the budget, the cost of the changes will be $346.1 million over five years. It's also adjusting the income test to include a household income threshold of $350,000 a year. The government's also changing the scheme so that single parents will be able to access the full 20 weeks of leave and given the ABS estimated last year that 81 per cent of single parents are women, it'll no doubt help potentially thousands of women. The budget specifically says it's hoped the change will provide more of an incentive for fathers to use parental leave as well. "It will assist to promote equality between mothers and fathers and empower families to make their own decisions without being restricted by policy settings defined by 'primary' or 'secondary' carers," the budget says. Instead of offering two separate payments - two weeks of "Dad and Partner Pay" and 18 weeks of "Parental Leave Pay" - the two will now be combined, meaning parents can choose to split the leave between them in whatever way they'd like. This year's budget includes a raft of announcements for women - including a big shake-up for the government's Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme. There is extra funding for women's health in the budget. The budget shows that funding will go from $2 billion a year this year to $1.3 billion by 2025-26.īut that funding doesn’t include other measures outside of the CEFC or ARENA, that form the government's Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan. The government's spend on some of its key climate change agencies including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy (ARENA) - both of which are tasked with investing in renewable or low emissions technologies - is set to decrease by 35 per cent over the next four years. It's also putting $148.6 million over five years to encourage investment in "affordable and reliable power" which includes $84 million over those five years for community microgrid projects in regional and rural Australia. Instead, the government is investing just under $250 million over five years to support investment in low emissions technologies including hydrogen.Īt the moment, creating the hydrogen to use as a fuel source produces emissions and while projects are being proposed and at various stages, it's still unclear how long it'll take to reach the scale needed for it to be a viable alternative to fossil fuels. There is no new direct funding in the budget for renewable energy generation projects. The only funding for renewables is a microgrid program for rural and regional areas. While cutting the excise, even temporarily, was something some state and federal MPs had called for, other groups had warned it probably wouldn't mean immediate relief at the bowser, would only help motorists and would cost the budget bottom line billions of dollars.īut regardless, Mr Frydenberg and the government have decided to half the excise. The ACCC says that if retailers lie about passing on the tax cut and making fuel cheaper, it "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action", including hefty fines. To make sure the cut to the fuel excise is actually passed on to motorists, and not just used by retailers to make a bigger profit, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be keeping an eye on fuel prices. Mr Frydenberg says the cut will last for the next six months and will save motorists 22 cents a litre when they fill up. The war in Ukraine has led to an increase in oil prices and some motorists have faced paying more than $2.20 a litre for petrol. In an effort to bring down petrol prices, the government is cutting the fuel excise - the flat tax levied on each litre of fuel - in half. Petrol prices have soared in recent weeks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |