Australian government faces budget dilemma.docVIP

Australian government faces budget dilemma 　　 Australian government faces budget dilemma 　　The Australian government faces some hard choices when Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey prepares his second budget. 　　Australian public rejected 2014 budget， which aimed to slash education funding， increase health care costs and strip benefits from young， unemployed Australians. 　　In 2015， voters remain skeptical of the need to cut government expenditure. 　　Because of a weakening economy， Australia’s traditional sources of revenue， such as personal and corporate income tax have increased slowly. 　　And much worse is the hole ripped out of budget finances by a slump in mining royalties. 　　In April， Mr Hockey warned he was preparing to write off up to AUD 25 billion （USD 20 billion， ￡13billion） in budget revenue over the next four years due to the slump in the price of iron ore. 　　The other problem is that the Australian government has already promised that it would not increase taxes， which leaves it few options if it wants to control its ballooning deficit. 　　Experts have given a variety of suggestions， including： 　　Having fewer and lower direct taxes， such as lower personal income and corporate taxes but a higher Goods and Services （GST） tax 　　There have been a variety of suggestions from experts， including： Having fewer and lower direct taxes， such as lower personal income and corporate taxes but a higher Goods and Services （GST） tax； winding back property tax concessions. Australia’s 1.3 million landlords claim about AUD 14 billion in tax losses a year； applying the current 10% GST to goods worth less than AUD 1，000 bought online from overseas； reducing generous superannuation （retirement pension） tax concessions. 　　The Australian government was forced to abandon its proposal for an AUD 7 payment to visit a GP because of fierce public opposition. 　　A tax on mining profits imposed by the previous Labor government when a mining boom underpinned the economy， it