The ABC seemed to suffer a post Federal Budget fail after the broadcaster took 12 minutes to go to 7.30 host Leigh Sales’ interview with Treasurer Scott Morrison.
The broadcaster traditionally goes straight to the interview after the Treasurer delivers the Budget to parliament, but was delayed and instead had political reporters Laura Tingle and Andrew Probyn giving their views of the Budget.
However, when Morrison finally appeared with Sales, he claimed the your average dual income Australian family was $1,000 better off after the Budget.
The ABC seemed to suffer a post Federal Budget fail after the broadcaster took 12 minutes to go to 7.30 host Leigh Sales’ interview with Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured)
When Morrison (pictured) finally appeared with Sales, he claimed the your average dual income Australian family was $1,000 better off after the Budget
Australians will be pocketing more money as the Federal Government announced they would be cutting taxes as part of the new Budget.
In the Treasurer’s first interview since announcing the 2018-19 Budget on Tuesday night, Morrison told Sales he thought Australians should be keeping ‘their money’.
Morrison said the extra money could be used for the quarterly electricity bill, school uniforms and books, a car registration or a new washing machine.
‘It is their money, I want them to keep it, they earned it … it is not a giveaway,’ he said.
‘It is an attempt to reward working Australians who have seen it tough … this tax relief means filling up your car six times.’
The Treasurer told the television host the tax cut would make it a ‘little bit easier’ on families where they could keep an extra $530 up to $1,000 in their wallets.
Morrison told Sales (pictured) the extra money could be used by Australians for their quarterly electricity bill, school uniforms and books, a car registration or a new washing machine
The Treasurer said he trusted how Australians spend their money and it was not up to the Government to decide.
The delayed start to the annual interview came after it was announced the ABC was one of the biggest victims of the newly announced Budget as almost $84 million in funding will be cut in 2019.
The broadcaster responded saying the ‘disappointing’ cuts meant it would be difficult to meet the expectations of current and future audiences with their ‘public interest journalism’.
‘Unfortunately, the Government has overlooked this contribution and the trust and value more than 80 per cent of Australians place is us as an independent national broadcaster,’ Michelle Guthrie wrote to ABC staff Tuesday night.
Morrison was further criticised on social media for speaking over the top of Sales as he made his Budget pitch to Australians.
Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said Australians would be very sceptical of the tax cuts.
Mr Bowen accused the Government of pulling a ‘hoax’ on voters and giving up on tackling debt.
But Mr Bowen also said Labor would support the first round of tax cuts to be introduced this year.