Government gives no cost of living relief this Christmas

Christmas is nearly here and what better time for the Federal Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers to play Santa and present the nation with a gift in the release of the Mid Year Economic Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO for short).

It’s where the government tells us what shape the budget and the government’s finances are in.

What we heard yesterday was that the Feds are raking in a stack of tax cash from the Australian workforce. Tax receipts are up because lots of people have jobs and are paying tax. And royalties from mining are up too.

So what is Dr Chalmers doing with all this cashola? He’s paying down the government’s debt and balancing the federal budget. Good on him for being so responsible and not taking it all down to the casino and putting it on black at the roulette table!

Times are quite tough for Australians at the moment with high mortgage interest rates, state and federal taxes up and, if you’ve been to the supermarket lately with mum or dad, the cost of living going through the roof.

So were there any handouts for Australian tax payers from the brimming pockets of the treasurer?

Well, no. He doesn’t want to stir up inflation, or the price of things going up, by giving Aussies money to spend. He’s reluctant to hand out money while the Reserve Bank is desperately trying to take it off you with higher mortgage rates.

The Reserve Bank guides how much interest rates go up on home loans. They have recently hiked interest rates to try and bring down rising prices on groceries and other goods. The idea behind it is that if people spend more money paying back the bank for their home loans, they’ll have less money to spend on other things.

If less people spend their money on things like new TVs or gadgets they don’t really need, the people selling those things will keep prices lower to make it easier to sell them.

So thanks to inflation, this Christmas you’ll just have to be happy with a Christmas bon bon containing a paper crown and a very poor dad joke inside.

So I thought I would try to illustrate the MYEFO release with a cartoon for the newspaper. I had a vision of Dr Chalmers in his Santa suit sitting on a golden throne in some Aussie shopping mall handing out Christmas cheer (or the lack of it) to the kiddies of hard working Australians.

As I mentioned before, despite the Budget returning to surplus, the treasurer was not about to share the financial love with the public, so the cartoon should show that.

We all love seeing pictures of shopping centre Santas posing for the annual photo with a screaming child that does not want to be there.

I thought that might be the case in this cartoon when the treasurer informs the kids that there will be no handouts this Chrissie. Tantrums ensue!

If we could pan the camera back in this cartoon we would probably see the mums and dads screaming red faced and in tears too.

My little pig in the left hand corner always has classic comment and here he doesn’t disappoint. Even though Dr Chalmers is wearing the red Santa suit, by his actions of fiscal restraint at Christmas time, he is technically a Grinch. Nice observation piggy, can’t argue there!

The cartoon seeks to paint the cliche picture of Christmas as a time for giving. But as the MYEFO statement clearly shows, it is the hard working men and women of Australia who are the ones clearly giving. They are giving their hard earned to the Government to balance the budget.

A very merry Christmas to you all!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• fiscal: relating to government money, especially taxes
• Feds: meaning the government
• royalties: money the government makes from charging mining companies
• inflation: when the price of things goes up over time
• Reserve Bank: the central body that shapes economic policy and guides banks as to how much interest they should charge on home loans
• interest rates: extra money homeowners pay the bank when paying back a home loan
• fiscal restraint: when the government doesn’t give money handouts or people pay more in taxes
• surplus: money left over
• cliche: a phrase used so often it loses its impact or meaning

EXTRA READING
The rate rise that stopped a nation
Renewables in power struggle
Big gaps in Govt wellbeing report

QUICK QUIZ
1. Why did Mark Knight depict Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers as a shopping centre Santa?
2. What does MYEFO stand for?
3. Why are times tough for Australians at the moment?
4. What reason does the treasurer give for not providing financial handouts to help with the high cost of living?
5. Why does the cartoon pig call the treasurer a Grinch?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Humour Analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News article, complete the following analysis questions to help you get the full humour out of his drawing.

Mark Knight Cartoon Analysis:
What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting:

Who is portrayed in the cartoon:

How are they portrayed?

What is the humour in the drawing:

Who might agree with his viewpoint?

Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?

Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the people or objects portrayed in the cartoon. Think, what would be their response to the speech bubble and satire from the cartoon.

Write or draw your response below.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.