“This Budget confirms how out of touch Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan are with local families. It fails the essential test: to ease the cost of living,” Member for Paterson, Bob Baldwinsaid today.

“There is nothing in this Budget for local families doing it tough.

“The Government’s failure to rein in its wasteful and reckless spending will lead to higher inflation and higher interest rates.

“The absence of the carbon tax means the Government’s claim to deliver a surplus in 2012/13 can’t be taken seriously.

“The revenue figures for 2012/13 are wrong. The expenditure figures are wrong, as are the forecasts for inflation, economic growth and unemployment. This year’s Budget deficit has soared to $49.4 billion and the forecast deficit in 2011/12 has blown out by $9.6 billion to $22.6 billion.

“Again we’ve seen a typical, old fashioned Labor Budget that’s big on taxes and big on spending, but fails to help households battling higher costs of living – petrol, electricity and gas, groceries, health costs and home repayments.

“The Government is launching a $2 billion assault on families by freezing the indexation of key family tax payments and income thresholds for three years.

“This is the first budget in eight years that hasn’t provided tax cuts for everyday people. The Government is being tough on families because it won’t be tough on itself.

“Labor has lost control of Australia’s borders. Offshore asylum seeker management has blown out by a record $1.75 billion since last year’s budget. Labor’s incompetent approach to border protection is in disarray.

“The new arrangements for taxing company cars will slug small business operators, tradesmen, farmers, the taxi and hire car industry with increased costs at a time when they’re already doing it tough.

“Regional Australia has again been short changed by a city centric Government that’s cut $500 million in regional funding. There is not a single new cent in this Budget for road or rail projects across Australia.

“Since coming to power, Labor has employed 24,000 additional public servants. Labor wants locals to tighten their belts, but it’s refusing to do the same itself,” said Mr Baldwin.