Strong support to deny rich the baby bonus Posted on May 12th
A STRONG majority of voters want the baby bonus and other family payments withdrawn from higher-income earners through the introduction of means tests, according to a special Newspoll that will boost the confidence of the Rudd Government ahead of tomorrow night’s Budget.
The Newspoll, published in The Australian, found 65 per cent of voters wanted the baby bonus means-tested and 64 per cent felt the same way about Family Tax Benefit Part B, which is paid to stay-at-home mothers regardless of household income.
The bad news for Labor is that a smaller majority of voters - 52 per cent - would also prefer their promised income tax cuts were ditched to avoid another interest rate rise.
All groups - including families with children, and even most Coalition supporters - were in favour of means tests for family payments.
These findings will unsettle the Opposition because they come after a campaign by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson and Treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull to defend the Howard government’s baby bonus going to rich and poor households alike. The baby bonus is worth $4258, and will rise to $5000 on July 1.
The poll showed 57 per cent of Coalition voters wanted the baby bonus means-tested, and the figure rose to 60 per cent for Family Tax Benefit Part B. Both numbers suggest that John Howard’s long-cherished, open-ended family payments system is ripe for reform because not even Coalition voters are willing to defend it.
The surprise is that most voters wants means tests to start applying on household incomes between $70,000 and $100,000. These thresholds are lower than those Labor has been publicly prepared to argue for.
Wayne Swan has repeatedly ruled out an attack on middle-class welfare if that means denying, or reducing, payments to the so-called working families on the middle rungs of the income ladder.
Kevin Rudd argued last week that millionaires did not need the baby bonus but Mr Turnbull, the Opposition Treasury spokesman, yesterday accused Labor of playing the politics of envy.
He said means-testing the baby bonus risked costing taxpayers more than it saved because of the administrative complexity involved.
For more analysis of the Newspoll head to The Australian.
Share this article
