Hockey cuts deep Little love for Hunter families and pensioners in tough Federal budget • AMELIA PARROTT
_ @amella_parrotl
n his maiden budget speech, Treasurer Joe Hockey called an end to what he called "the age of entitlement," asking every Australian to make a shared contribution to decreasing the country's nearly $50 billion deficit. But the tough changes laid out in the 2014-15 Federal budget will leave many Hunter residents giving more than they are getting, with amendments to the Family Tax Benefits A and B, increasing fuel prices and a levy on visits to the doctor and prescriptions to hit families particularlyhard. Small wins for Hunter residents came in the form of a $40 million commitment to the duplication of Tourle Street Bridge and the promise of more funding for research organisations, like Hunter Medical Research Institute {HMRO, under the Government's new $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. But according to Newcastle MP, Sharon Claydon, even these good news stories come with a catch. "The farcical re-announcement of the Tourle Street Bridge upgrade nearly did me in," she told the Post. "Not only is this Government passing off a Labor project as their own but they have reduced the funding from $52 million to $40 million and pushed the project back a few years." StoryCODl:iDuescm DP. 4
I
Decision time Knights
ownership to be settled p.3S
Treasurer Joe Hockey has delivered his first budget Illustration: Paul Dorin
TWO GREAT LOCATIONS IN BELMONT TO SHOP