Category: Media Releases

Ross Vasta says residents will be hit hard by changes to Private Health Insurance Rebate


Ross Vasta Member for Bonner says the changes to the private health insurance rebate that commenced on 1 July will increase the costs of health insurance and increase hospital waiting lists.

“Like the carbon tax, the change to private health insurance is a broken promise by Julia Gillard that will worsen the burden on households”, said Ross Vasta.

“The carbon tax will hurt households and the economy and means testing the private health insurance rebate will hurt households and the health system.

“Residents throughout Bonner with private health insurance will be adversely impacted by the changes to the private health insurance rebate.

“Those who breach Labor’s income threshold will pay up to 43 per cent more.  Everyone else will also pay more for their coverage as the health funds will have to increase premiums to cover the loss of members from the fund.  It is estimated that the cost of premiums will increase by 10 per cent over and above what would be expected otherwise.

“It is estimated 1.6 million Australians will drop private hospital cover over the next five years and another 4.3 million Australians will downgrade their level of coverage because of these changes.  This will have a dramatic impact on the costs of everyone who keeps their private health insurance.

Ross Vasta says the increased cost pressures on private health insurance will particularly hit families who are already doing it tough because of the carbon tax.

“Julia Gillard likes to play the class war card on private health insurance, but in doing so, it proves she doesn’t understand private health insurance.  The fact is that across Australia, nearly half of all people with private health insurance earn less than $50,000 a year and over 3 million earn less than $35,000 a year. 

Ross Vasta said that he was particularly concerned about the impact of the changes on the public hospital system.

“Waiting lists will grow – and this will impact everyone on a waiting list.  They will grow because these changes will push an estimated 845,000 procedures onto public hospitals at a cost to government of $3.8 billion.

Ross Vasta said the Coalition’s support for the private health insurance rebate is part of the Coalition’s DNA.

“We will restore the private health insurance rebate as quickly as we can.”

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2012 Volunteer Grants Now Open

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta has encouraged voluntary organisations in the Bonner Electorate to apply for the 2012 round of Volunteer Grants. 
 

Mr Vasta said the Federal Government’s Volunteer Grants Program allows eligible not-for-profit organisations to further support their volunteers and encourage volunteering.
 
“I was pleased to see that last year many voluntary organisations took the opportunity to apply for this grant, and I hope to see the same again this year.”
 
The grants provide funding of between $1,000 and $5,000 to voluntary organisations to:
 
·      Purchase portable, tangible, small equipment items to help volunteers
 
·      Contribute to the reimbursement of fuel costs for their volunteers who use     
        their own car to transport others to activities, deliver food and assist people 
        in need
 
·      Contribute to the reimbursement of transport costs incurred by volunteers
        with disabilities who are unable to drive
 
·      Contribute to the costs of training courses and/or background screening 
       checks for volunteers.
 
“There is $16 million dollars available through the Volunteer Grants program, and I would like to see some of this money go to the hardworking volunteers in the Bonner Electorate,” Mr Vasta said.
Applications for the grants close on the 25th July 2012.
 
For further information on Volunteer Grants, call 1800 183 374 or email vg2012@fahcsia.gov.au.

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Calling Nominations for the 2012 National Disability Awards

The 2012 National Disability Awards nomination period has officially opened, and now in it’s sixth year has been established to honour and recognise the achievements of people and organisations that have made significant contributions to the community to improve the lives of people with a disability.

Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta welcomed the opening of the Awards nomination period, and urges the people and businesses of Bonner to get behind those who deserve national recognition for their contribution to improve the lives of people with a disability.

“These Awards are important for our community to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions individuals and organisations have made to improve the lives of people with disability,” Ross Vasta said.

Nominations close 5pm AEST Friday 20 July 2012.

For further information call 1800 440 385 or visit www.idpwd.com.au.

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Worst Possible Time for the World’s Biggest Carbon Tax

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The decision of the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates by 25 basis points is confirmation that the economic storm clouds are gathering says Ross Vasta MP, Federal Member for Bonner.

 

“While home owners will welcome a cut in interest rates, they also understand the cut is a result of the worsening world economy and a soft domestic economy”, said Mr Vasta.

 

“For this cut to help household budgets, it must be passed on in full.  The banks routinely  ignore Wayne Swan and home owners have consistently missed out on receiving the full benefit of past rate cuts. 

 

“In recent months, householders have felt the shock of falling share markets, declining house prices and uncertainty due to the carbon tax.

 

“This is the worst possible time to introduce the world’s biggest carbon tax.

 

“The carbon tax is a bad tax based on a lie.  It will increase prices, cost jobs and no nothing for the environment. 

 

Mr Vasta said he wanted to assure the people of Bonner that the Coalition has a plan to strengthen the economy and provide people in Bonner with the hope, reward and opportunity they need to plan for the future with confidence.

 

“My message to the people of Bonner is that there is a better way.  The Coalition has a plan to provide effective, stable and competent government and improve the economic circumstances of the people and small businesses of Bonner. 

 

“We will scrap the carbon tax, cut the waste, reduce the debt and restore Australia’s finances.  Scrapping the carbon tax will restore confidence, help families deal with cost of living pressures and help get our economy growing again.

 

“We will deliver a personal tax cut without a carbon tax, funded by savings in government expenditure.

 

“We will also cut red tape and reduce the regulatory burden on business and community groups by $1 billion per year.

 

Mr Vasta said in difficult economic times, the Coalition offered an experienced alternative to the division and dysfunction in the Gillard Government.

 

“The Coalition has an experienced team who have managed an economy during difficult times. Sixteen members of the Coalition front bench were Ministers in the Howard government.

 

“The Coalition has run a strong economy before – and we can do it again.  And we will start by scrapping the world biggest carbon tax,” said Mr Vasta.

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Ross Vasta MP says Productivity Commission Review of Child Care Urgently Needed.

Monday, June 4, 2012


Ross Vasta, Federal Member for Bonner says the Productivity Commission needs to undertake an urgent review of child care following a year of double digit fee increases hitting families.

 

New research released on the weekend has revealed that Queensland parents are now paying on average $67.76 per day per child for child care.

 

“According to this research, child care costs in Queensland are up 10.3 per cent in the last year – and when you add on changes to private health insurance and the coming carbon tax, local families are under increasing financial pressure”, said Mr Vasta.

 

“It is clear that when many parents do the sums, after tax and child care costs, there isn’t much financial incentive to return to the workforce. That’s why affordable and accessible child care is not just a family budgeting issue, it’s a nationwide productivity issue.

 

“According to the ABS, more than 110,000 Australian parents, including many in Bonner say they cannot access employment as they cannot find suitable and/or affordable child care. 

 

 “We need a Productivity Commission Review into child care because accessible, affordable child care is fundamental to families and fundamental to Australia.

 

Mr Vasta said responsibility for child care fee increases lay squarely at the feet of the government which has broken promises and burdened the child care sector with additional costs.

 

“Child care centres and parents are saying that the Gillard Government’s new rules for child care centres are driving up fees.  As part of the changes, the Government is demanding staff be better trained and perform more duties but won’t accept these carers might want to be better paid as a result.”

 

Mr Vasta said that in addition to these fee increases, child care is becoming less affordable with the government cutting the Child Care Rebate from $8,179 to $7,500 and halting the indexation of the rebate. 

 

“Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd promised to end the ‘double drop off’ by building 260 child care and early childhood education centres and instead abandoned the plan after only delivering 38.

 

Mr Vasta said families with working parents were doing it tough because of Labor’s policies.

“Families are paying higher child care fees because of Labor’s child care policies, paying more for private health insurance because of changes to the private health insurance rebate and will be paying more because on the necessities of life because of Labor’s carbon tax.”

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Students in Bonner win national prize for excellence


Ross Vasta is delighted to congratulate Mr Daniel Byrne of Manly West, Mr Karl Domjahn of Wishart and Miss Karla Mayfield of Carindale who are recipients of the 2011 Australian Students Prize in the Bonner community.

“The Australian Student Prize is a highly prestigious inaugural award programme that began in 1991 and only 500 prizes are awarded each year,” Ross Vasta said.  

 “Receiving this award means you are being recognised nationally for academic excellence and this deserves the highest praise.

“Prize winners also are awarded $2,000 to assist them to pursue their future aspirations. 

 “I look would like to personally congratulate Karl, Daniel and Karla on their great achievement as it is a true testament to their many years of handwork and dedication,” Ross Vasta said. 

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New figures confirm red tape is choking Bonner small businesses and community groups


New figures have confirmed that Bonner businesses and community organisations are dealing with more red tape than ever before, says Ross Vasta, Federal Member for Bonner.

 

Since the start of 2008, 18,089 additional regulations have been created by the Rudd/Gillard Government, including 1,311 new regulations this year.

 

“When I talk with shop owners, small business operators, and community and volunteer groups, I am continually told that red tape is getting worse”, said Ross Vasta.

 

“Red tape is growing and it is choking the life out of local businesses and community groups”

 

“It is already a difficult time for small business, with retail shops struggling, flat sales, low confidence and a carbon tax only weeks away – and the avalanche of red tape is making it worse.

 

“18,000 new regulations in just over four and a half years equates to 11 new regulations every day.

 

“Labor promised when they were elected they would introduce ‘one in, one out”, meaning that new regulations would be matched by repealing others.  Instead, since 2007, 18,000 regulations have been added and only 86 regulations have been repealed.”

 

Ross Vasta said the Productivity Commission had estimated that the rewards for Australia to cut red tape could be worth up to $12 billion a year.

 

“The Coalition has established a Deregulation Taskforce, under the leadership of respected Senator Arthur Sinodinos AO, and it will cut red tape by $1 billion a year.

 

“Areas of red tape already identified include scrapping the carbon tax, simplifying the administration of compulsory employee superannuation contributions; and moving the administration of the national paid parental leave scheme from small businesses to the government’s Family Assistance Office.

 

Ross Vasta invited local businesses and community groups to contact his office at ross.vasta.mp@aph.gov.au to provide details of red tape that the Coalition’s Deregulation Taskforce should consider cutting.

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Carbon Cop’ has Brisbane City Council in its sights

Brisbane City Council ratepayers stand to suffer yet another hit from the carbon tax, Ross Vasta, Federal Member for Bonner said today.

 

Clean Energy Regulator or ‘Carbon Cop’ officials have told Senate Estimates that, on top of those ten councils* recently named on a list of 248 entities expected to be liable to pay the carbon tax, they have written to a further 104 councils that might also be hit.

 

Among these 104 additional councils is Brisbane City Council.

 

The Regulator’s Chair and CEO, Chloe Munro, told Senate Estimates that their ‘best guess’ is that, of these additional 104 local governments, about 70 will actually be liable to the carbon tax.

 

“All Australians will be hit with the carbon tax, particularly as a result of electricity and gas price hikes that will flow on to push up the cost of everything,” Ross Vasta said today.

 

“We now know that ratepayers in Brisbane City Council could be among the many, many thousands of Australians who will also be hit indirectly as ratepayers of councils subject to the carbon tax, simply because they own or use a dump or landfill facility.

 

“It seems remarkable that local councils around Australia could account for around 20 per cent of those entities directly liable to pay Labor’s carbon tax.

 

“Labor is adding the world’s biggest carbon tax to the world’s highest electricity prices.

 

“The Gillard Government’s carbon tax will also mean local councils have to lift their own fees and charges, raise their council rates, cut services or some combination of these hits, all of which mean more pain for Australians at the local level.”

 

Ross Vasta said only the Coalition will make scrapping the carbon tax the first order of business by a Coalition Government.

 

“The Coalition has demonstrated it has a strong plan for economic growth and it starts with scrapping the carbon tax.”

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THE COALITION’S PLAN TO REVIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY

The Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta was joined today at Citipointe Christian College by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Tony Abbott to welcome the announcement by the Coalition to revive Foreign Languages in Schools throughout Australia.

 

“With such a multicultural community it is heartening to see the Coalition commit to reviving teaching of foreign languages in Australian schools”, said Ross Vasta.

 

 “Knowing the languages of our key regional partners is vital to unlocking the potential of the Asian century for Australia.”

 

“A Coalition Government will work urgently with the states to ensure that at least 40 per cent of Year 12 students are once more taking a language other than English within a decade,” said Ross Vasta.

 

The teaching of foreign languages in Australian schools has long been in decline. 

 

The Coalition believes that starting in pre-school every student should have an exposure to foreign languages.

 

Because foreign language speakers will have to be mobilised and because teachers take time to be trained, this will be a generational shift. 

 

“We will urgently work with the states to ensure that the Australian workforce of the future can grasp the full opportunity of the Asian century” Ross Vasta said today.

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BUDGET PROVES LABOR IS NO FRIEND OF SMALL BUSINESS


Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta said the Federal Budget offered little or nothing for small businesses in Bonner about to be whacked by the world’s biggest carbon tax.

“The Gillard Government has shown that its got no feel for small business, offering nothing new in the budget  to provide immediate relief to struggling businesses with the sector seeing a 48 per cent increase in insolvencies,” Ross Vasta said.

“First the Gillard Government broke its promise not to introduce a carbon tax, now it’s broken its promise to cut the company tax rate.

“Carbon tax-related ‘sweeteners’ in the form of accelerated depreciation allowances rely on small businesses having the ready cash to spend on new capital items.

“The Gillard Government’s abolition of the Entrepreneurs Tax Offset has increased tax for nearly 370,000 of our smallest businesses, including micro, home-based, independent contractor and start-up businesses, with incomes of less than $75,000.

Ross Vasta said the Institute of Chartered Accountants rightly identifies that 80 per cent of all small businesses have no prospect of gaining any benefit from ‘loss carry back’ as they are not structured as corporations and fewer still could satisfy the complicated eligibility criteria under current trading conditions.

“The local corner shop in Bonner  is not only going to have to deal with an increase in costs for supplies and electricity, it’s also going to have pressure from consumers looking for a bargain as cost of living pressures increase and unemployment rises as forecasted in the Budget,” Ross Vasta said.

“The greatest insult from the Gillard Government is the toxic carbon tax. Small business will be hit the hardest because their costs will go up and up and up as the carbon price goes up and up and up, and they won’t receive a single cent in compensation.”

Ross Vasta said the Coalition had a clear road map to restore hope, reward and opportunity for small business by scrapping the carbon tax and getting out of the way of business by slashing $1 billion worth of red tape.

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