REMEMBER WHEN

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

THE baby bonus was axed and it was to cost more for medical care as Julia Gillard asked families to pay for her crusade to increase funding for schools and introduce disability care.

In perhaps the most unusual preelection Budget seen, Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered a $6bn hit to families instead of the typical cash hand-outs to buy votes. With just 122 days until the September 14 election with Labor in a deep hole in the opinion polls, the Budget also sank into a bigger-than-expected deficit.

Handing down his sixth Budget, Mr Swan revealed the red ink would be $19bn that year and $18bn in 2014, despite previously promising a surplus.

Mr Swan said this was a Budget about “choices” that would make Australia “stronger, smarter and fairer” as he announced $43bn in spending cuts and higher taxes.

He said the centrepiece was $9.8bn in new money for schools, a $14.3bn injection for DisabilityCare and $24bn to be spent on roads and rail.

“We take the difficult decisions knowing they allow us to fully fund better schools for our children, the historic creation of DisabilityCare

Australia, and of course, the next wave of nation-building,” Mr Swan said. “We enter a period where new choices must be made.”

The biggest surprise was the decision to axe the baby bonus from March 1.

The budget proved to be the Labor government’s last.

Julia Gillard lost the Labor leadership back to Kevin Rudd who went on to lose the 2013 election to Tony Abbott, with the Coaltion remaining in power since.