Government running costs to reach record high as disability expenses mount
The Abbott government will become the most expensive to run on record, despite its catchphrase policy of “smaller government” and an austerity drive that will shed more than 16,500 public sector jobs.
Departmental expenses – money used to manage government programs – are forecast to soar to an historic high after the 2016 election, reaching more than $70 billion a year.
Even after accounting for inflation, the amount eclipses the previous high in 2005-06, when the Howard government spent billions on a revamp of defence administration.
However, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is tasked with reining in the bureaucracy’s costs, says the rising expenses are “overwhelmingly related to the roll-out of the national disability insurance scheme”.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald