The Wire

Billions of dollars of Government revenue have been wasted during the Howard years to fund tax cuts for the rich. That’s according to research by The Australia Institute released this week. It found that major surpluses were not invested into infrastructure but returned as tax cuts to wealthy Australians. But with falling revenues and an economic crisis, further tax cuts cannot be expected. Tonight’s second Federal budget will announce a deficit of 58-billion dollars and a forecast of 8.5 per cent unemployment. The Wire’s Anne von Fehrn spoke to Senior Research Fellow David Richardson about the findings of the Australia Institute and how they could impact on tonight’s Federal budget.