Independent modelling released today shows Tony Abbott’s Budget has an unequal and unfair impact on Australian women.

 

The modelling – from the independent think tank The Australia Institute – shows women will be more harshly affected by the Budget than men, with 55 per cent of the cuts to disposable income to be felt by women.

 

Even worse, it is women on low incomes that will lose the most.

 

From 2017, women in the poorest 20 per cent of Australian households will be more than $2500 a year worse off because of this bad Budget.

 

No matter how you cut it, this Budget is bad for Australians – but it’s even worse for Australian women.

 

This Budget is unfairly impacting on Australian women now, and it will impact on them in the future.

 

Tony Abbott’s broken promise on the superannuation guarantee means women will retire with thousands of dollars less in their super accounts.

 

The abolition of the Low Income Superannuation Contribution will rip up to $500 a year from 2.1 million women on low incomes.

 

And Tony Abbott’s retrograde changes to university fees will mean women will be saddled with more debt.

 

The cost of nursing and teaching degrees for women could double, and the cost of a science degree could as much as triple.

 

Because of Tony Abbott, a university degree will mean a debt sentence for young women.

 

This is a bad Budget written by an out-of-touch government.

 

With only one woman sitting around the Cabinet table, no wonder the impact on women is an afterthought.

 

Hard working women, trying to make ends meet and worried about how much they have saved for retirement, shouldn’t have to do all of the heavy lifting in this unfair Budget.

 

These alarming findings should be the wakeup call that Tony Abbott needs to change his Budget.

 

Australian women shouldn’t have to pay the price for Tony Abbott’s broken promises.

 

They shouldn’t have to bear all the pain of this unfair Budget.

 

THURSDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2014

 

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