Yahoo Finance Documents reveal Budget horror
Treasurer Joe Hockey has come out defending his Budget's fairness after the release of Treasury modelling showed lower income households would be hardest hit.
Documents released under freedom of information laws at the request of Fairfax Media show that the poorest workers would be $844 worse off under the Budget.
The documents show middle-income earners would lose $492 on average in Government payments and slightly higher tax and highest income earners would lose $517, according to the Treasury analysis for 2016-17.
Were it not for the temporary deficit levy, which applies to those earning more than $180,000 a year, higher income earners would be just $71 worse off under the Budget.
Related: Hockey wanted a tougher Budget, was stopped by Abbott
The missing piece
Fairfax claims that the Government was fully aware of the impact the Budget would have on the poorest and is refusing to release more detailed modelling prepared by the Treasury before the Budget.
However, a spokesperson for the Hockey has reportedly said the documents could not be released because they were prepared for the cabinet and were protected from the Freedom of Information act.
Hockey has also criticised Fairfax, claiming the raw figures did not represent the "true state of affairs" and denying that the Government aware of its impact on the poorest.
"It (Treasury modelling) doesn't take into account the fact that higher income households pay half their income in tax and, on average, higher income households fund the benefits that go to an average of nearly four lower-income households," he said.
"It fails to take into account pensions, which is not included in that table. It also fails to take into account the massive number of concessional payments that goes to lower-income households."
Budget breakdown: Winners and losers
The Treasury modelling shows that after the Budget, low-income earners, defined as those earning up to $37,000 a year, would still get $12,604 in welfare, down from $13,446.
Hockey has also accused Fairfax of spreading “malevolent”, “deliberately misleading” and “deceptive” claims about the Budget and his use of ministerial travel perks.
