Australia Budget 2007

Australia budget 2007 primarily aims at dealing with productivity and participation imperatives to sustain long term economic growth in Australia. Australia Budget 2007 is an estimated plan that portrayan outline of Australia’s financial and operational goals in the following years. The budget 2007 also allocates resources in Australia. One of the principal targets of Australia budget 2007 is to formulate plans to assist child care activities and provide funds specifically for higher education, transport and water infrastructure. Some of the significant items of Australia budget 2007 includes personal tax relief and additional investment in education sector.

Prominent features: Australia Budget 2007

• Personal income tax relief: Australia budget 2007 provides tax relief worth $31.5 billion specifically for lower income group, with an objective to improve international competitiveness.
• Supporting retirement savings: The government of Australia also aims to encourage superannuation savings by arranging additional $1.1 billion into superannuation accounts specifically for lower income group.
• Assistance in Educational sector: One of the significant features of Australia budget 2007 is to finance $5 billion to the Higher Education Endowment Fund, with an objective to provide more research facilities. This budget also provides additional support to the universities for improving quality of teaching in Australian schools.
• Child care assistance: The government of Australia aims at assisting child care programs and accordingly increased the rates of child care benefit by 10%. At the same time, the budget also provides child care tax rebate to help about 700,000 families in Australia.
• Funding to Transport and water infrastructure: Australia budget 2007 targets to finance $22.3 billion in Australia’s road and rail infrastructural sectors. This budget also funds $10 billion to maintain and sustain water supply in Australia.
• Economic expansion: Australia budget 2007 estimates an economic growth by 3¾ per cent in 2007- 2008.
• Exports Acceleration: Australia budget also aims to enhance productive capacity in the mining sector.
• Budget surplus: This budget estimates a budget surplus of $10.6 billion in 2007-08. This budget surplus is required for maintaining consistency with the Government of Australia’s medium-term fiscal strategy.
• Building a fund of financial assets: Budget 2007 also aims at dealing with unfunded government liabilities for superannuation. The overall assets and earnings of the Fund amounting to about $52 billion by June 2007. Presently the unfunded superannuation liability approximated at $103 billion, which is estimated to touch $148 billion by 2019-20. By 2046-47, Government of Australia’s superannuation liability is estimated to grow by $200 billion and over .

In the following four years, Government of Australia is determined to maintain a strong fiscal position, despite facing long-term economic and fiscal challenges. Over the following forty years, the living standards of Australian population are expected to rise in a sluggish manner and consequently government spending is estimated to rise, specifically in the areas of health and aged care.

Australia budget 2007 also provides $5 billion endowment for the universities in Australia. The Government of Australia also funds $3.5 billion for the enhancement of higher education and to improve the quality of teaching in schools of Australia.

• Tax cuts: This budget also anticipates that taxpayers in Australia will get personal tax cuts worth $31.5 billion. The tax cuts are provided to improve the work incentives specifically for lower income group.

The first marginal tax rate is brought down from 17% to 15%. The income tax cuts declared in the Australia budget 2006 assured that over 80% of taxpayers will get a top marginal tax rate of about 30%.