Last week I was interviewed by The Canberra Times regarding the budget. Of course this is because I follow politics so closely and my opinion is very important in Canberra. Ok that's a lie, I was actually interviewed a month ago about our experience with the NBN but that story didn't end up running.
When I got the call asking me if I would like to comment on the budget I kinda freaked out. I honestly have never taken too much notice of the budget and wasn't actually planning to watch when it was announced. I was even more scared as my hubby was not going to be at home so it was up to me to say something somewhat intelligent. I was even more freaked out when some of my facebook followers warned me not to speak to them at all.
Below is the interview. I think it came out ok. Not everything was entirely accurate some of that was my fault for not explaining properly and it must be super hard to turn what someone says into a story.
I'm also not one to get fired up about these things. I actually think that our politicians do a pretty good job. Of course that is comparing them to leaders of other countries and the leaders that I have studied in my History courses in school and university. They do have their weak points and I am thankful that there are people who will make a stand for important issues.
From The Canberra Times on Wednesday 15th May 2013:
Meet the Berriman family of Harrison. Tim Berriman, 37, and his wife Lisa, 33. The couple have three children: Emily, 4, Claire, 2, and one-year-old Alicia.
Tim works full-time in his role as a Presbyterian minister, while Lisa cares for their children and is completing a masters in clinical psychology at the University of Canberra and writes a blog about her life.
Their household income is around $80,000.
As Treasurer Wayne Swan was preparing to deliver his pre-election budget address on Tuesday night, Ms Berriman was busy with her own domestic concerns. With her husband not yet home from work, she put the couple's daughters to bed and listened with interest as Mr Swan spoke about tertiary education, child care and changes to family tax arrangements.
Ms Berriman said previously announced cuts to university funding and student support totalling $2.3 billion were disappointing but she welcomed increases in Commonwealth-supported university places and $186 million for research.
''It's a shame they have to cut anything, particularly university funding, and the Treasurer spoke about wanting to have people to get the highly skilled jobs Australia needs so I think it should have been a last resort,'' she said.
''I think university study is really important for Canberra and for Australia, so that was something I listened to closely.''
The self-described ''mummy blogger'' welcomed $9.8 billion to be spent over six years for Australia's new school funding model, as well as $300 million for the child-care Early Years Quality Fund.
''Canberra already has very good preschool and child-care and I think everyone should have [it] and for it to be as helpful as it can be for early learning,'' she said.
''I think a lot of people will care about the education spending because it affects everyone in some way or another, and it seems like the government thinks it is very important now.''
Families such as the Berrimans will face a reduced time period to access family tax assistance and child-care funding, saving the government $562 million over five years.
The family received the $5000 baby bonus at the birth of their children, but Ms Berriman admitted it's axing from March 1, 2014, was sensible.
The cut will save $1.1 billion over five years.
''We got the baby bonus for all three of our children and while it was really generous at the time, the truth is we probably didn't really need it as much as other families might,'' she said. ''We used it for the setting-up costs of the nursery and things like that, but it wasn't like we would have gone without.''
Ms Berriman welcomed the centrepiece spending of $14.3 billion for DisabilityCare, the national disability insurance scheme, raised through an increase in the Medicare levy.
''I thought that was great because I have worked with people with disabilities and know it is pretty hard for some of them,'' she said.
''I am really glad to be able to contribute and I think a small raise in the Medicare levy is a good way to do it because I know it could be me or my family next year or in the future.''
The original story is here:
It was really interesting watching the announcement of the budget and I may even take more notice in the future.
Did you watch the budget announcement?
