A young mother has shared a heartbreaking plea for the Albanese government to do more to stem the cost of living crisis, saying tax cuts are not enough to help young families cope.
Young mother Emma Robertson and her partner work at least 40 hours a week to support themselves and their 15-month-old son Atlan.
Despite their heavy workload and living with Mrs Robertson’s parents, they say the tax cuts won’t be enough to help and the family is increasingly frustrated.
Ms Robertson told Channel Nine’s A Current Affair that the tax cuts do “virtually nothing at all”.
“The tax cuts are coming but everything else is going up, so it’s not justified,” he told host Ally Landgon.
The government has said the tax cuts legislated earlier this year are intended to provide relief to low- and middle-income earners, while reducing benefits for taxpayers earning more than $150,000.
The 33-year-old mother is worried that despite living with her family and receiving tax relief, her son’s daycare bill keeps increasing.
“We received an email saying our daily rate would increase by $17 per day, which is pretty realistic,” Ms. Robertson added.
Young mother Emma Robertson (pictured with her son) believes tax cuts are not enough to keep families afloat during the cost of living crisis.
“When you think about everything else that’s gone up, like car insurance, food prices, gas, rent, rates, all that kind of stuff… Unfortunately, this is not where I saw my life, but it’s where we are.’
The young mother works 40 hours a week, while her partner works up to 50, but both struggle to live comfortably.
Ms Robertson said that without her parents, her family would “essentially be homeless”.
“It’s a struggle. We do everything we can to cut back what we can, just to survive, to put food on the table,” he said.
‘At the moment we cannot save and be aware of everything. It’s too difficult.’
Asked if she would ever own her own property, Ms Robertson said it was not something she saw herself doing under the current circumstances.
She pleaded with the government to “step up” and help families like her, who need to ease the cost of living to keep moving forward.
Robertson said he needs help from the government.
“Every day I wake up and think, ‘What’s going to happen this week? What’s going to happen today?'” he said.
“It’s horrible. I never imagined I would be in this situation, but here I am, barely surviving.”
Many Australians like Emma are calling for more help with the cost of living from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured)
The Albanese government says the changes mean all 13.6 million taxpayers will receive a tax cut, with 11.5 million taxpayers receiving a larger tax cut, compared to changes proposed by the Morrison government in 2019.
The government also says 5.8 million women will receive a bigger tax cut compared to the Coalition’s previous plan.
Under the changes, Australians earning between $18,201 and $45,000 will now pay 16 percent tax, a drop of 3 percent from the original Stage 3 plan.
The 32.5 percent tax bracket will be reduced to 30 percent for workers earning more than $45,000, but will be reduced to $135,000 based on changes to the tax bracket.
Those earning between $135,000 and $190,000 will now pay a 37 percent tax.
The top 45 percent tax bracket will now start at $190,000 instead of $180,000.
Emma Robertson told ACA’s Ally Langdon that her family is “barely surviving”
An Australian earning $50,000 would save $929 a year, meaning they would be $804 better off under the new Stage 3 tax cuts.
A person earning $90,000 would save $1,929 a year, a significant increase from the $1,125 originally promised.
A worker earning $110,000 would save $2,429 a year, compared with $1,625 under previous plans.
A person earning $140,000 would save $3,729 a year, slightly more than the $3,275 they would have received under the Coalition’s initial plans.