Scott Morrison, the Treasurer of Australia, recently made a statement saying that his first budget will be unlike any budgets that Australia has seen. Morrison hinted towards a tax cut and said that he plans to increase education spending.

New York, NY, USA, May 13, 2016 — The government announced that it will be pushing in an extra $1.2 billion in the education budget. If reports are to be believed, under the new budget, people earning more than $80,000 will have to pay lesser taxes than before.

However, Morrison also promised that the new budget had nothing to do with the impending federal election which is to happen on 2 July. The Treasurer said that the new budget is aimed at creating more jobs and that the focus will be on growth and creating a diversified economy.

He also said that he had been allocating his time to the budget for a while now because he understands that Australia does not need a typical budget, but a budget that would strengthen the future of the country.

However, Morrison restrained from making any direct comments about the expected tax cut. At the same time, he also said in a garbed statement that government does not plan to increase the tax burden on Australian citizens and the Australian economy beyond what it is right, because increasing tax will hamper growth and kill jobs, something that Australia cannot afford to do at present.

Stuart Poulson, Head of Corporate Trading at Nikko-Desjardins Asset Management said, “The government must ensure that after the tax revision, an average wage earner should not move into the second highest tax bracket category. If the treasurer is indeed able to reduce taxes, people who earn more than $80,000 will benefit doubly as the temporary deficit levy which was introduced in 2014 will end in 2017.”

However, Chris Bowen, the Shadow Treasurer of Australia, has said that he will not support any tax cuts for people who are earning more than $80,000 without first going through the details of the package. Bowen further said that if the government plans to reduce taxes, it will have to justify such an action first and that the entire process will be looked on merits.

Bowen added that the even though the Treasurer says that budget deficits do not count any more, it is hard to ignore the fact that the AAA credit rating is under immense pressure. On top of that, the government has increased overall spending since the last year which is as yet unfunded. Bowen said that he will have to take under consideration all these circumstances before he can approve a tax cut.

More recently, Bill Shorten, the opposition leader of Australia, addressed a conference of journalists in Melbourne where he said that the present Australian government is trying to entice voters by offering them a modest tax cut. However, the people of Australia are smart enough to not fall for such false promises.

He further added that in the last three years, the Liberal government has only stolen money from its voters. Now that the elections are near, the government is trying to buy back voters by offering them money.

About Nikko-Desjardins Asset Management:
Established in 2006, Nikko-Desjardins Asset Management is an independent, full-service brokerage, wealth management and business management provider dedicated to providing wealth preservation solutions from Asia to North America for affluent individuals, families and Institutions.

The retail operations are based in Toronto, Canada and Corporate headquarters based in Tokyo, Japan, which are responsible for the oversight of more than $6.5 billion-worth of assets on behalf of esteemed clientele located in Europe, North America and Asia.

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