The Turnbull government will save $170.4m over two years by terminating one of Tony Abbott’s signature policies – a pilot scheme subsidising childcare by nannies – and a further $154m by not proceeding with another part of Abbott’s legacy, the marriage equality plebiscite.
The savings are part of a list unveiled on Monday in the latest midyear economic forecast, which, as expected, axed another Abbott-era initiative, the “green army” program, and also the “asset recycling” initiative, which was a major economic program unveiled in the Abbott government’s first budget to encourage the states to privatise assets.
The new economic statement also reveals the government is planning to save more than $7bn in payments relating to childcare benefits and rebates over the next four years compared with previous projections – although the number of children accessing subsidised childcare is forecast to grow.
The government in its explanation of the marriage equality plebiscite saving has moved to reassure conservatives that the idea has only been shelved, not canned.
The midyear economic forecast says the government will book the marriage equality plebiscite as a saving but “if the parliament passes legislation for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage in the future, the government will allocate the necessary funding at that point”.
Abbott’s nannies pilot program – which was a key part of his political pitch on childcare in opposition and in government – has been canned effective 30 June 2018 on the basis take-up was “much lower” than expected.
The pilot will be closed to new applicants from 1 January 2017 and families already participating in the scheme will have their care subsidised until June 2018.
The government also used the update forecast to dump a controversial plan to sell the Australian Securities and Investments Commission corporate registry to a private company.
The Australian Council of Social Service, the Tax Justice Network, the Uniting church and GetUp, among other groups, had urged the government to desist from the sale.
On Monday the government said it decided not to proceed with the sale because the final bids received “did not deliver a net financial benefit for the commonwealth”. Not proceeding with the initiative will return $4.5m to the budget.
The government has also nipped the youth internship program it unveiled in May, taking $5.7m out of the Youth Jobs PaTH program – at the same time setting aside $20m over four years for an “awareness strategy” for that and other youth employment programs.
