Roundup: Elderly Australians, infrastructure projects get huge funding boost in Budget

CANBERRA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Ageing Australians will get extra help to stay in their own homes longer following the government's billion-dollar aged care pledge in the Federal Budget which was handed down on Tuesday night.

Tax cuts, heavy investment in transport and roads, aid for the Great Barrier Reef and a crackdown on illicit tobacco were the other highlights of the annual document, which outlined the government's proposed expenditures and savings over the next four years.

The budget, expected to be the last financial plan before Australians head to the polls in the next federal election, allocated over 1.2 billion U.S. dollars for seniors as the government provided an assistance package for the 4.8 million Australian voters aged over 60.

Transport, meals, cleaning and gardening will all be made easier for elderly Australians through the implementation of thousands of home-care packages.

In announcing the budget, Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said it was "a statement of values" that emphasized the government's commitment to improving the quality of life for Australia's ageing population.

"A stronger economy, more jobs, guaranteeing essential services and the government living within its means. That is what this budget is about," Morrison said in his address to Parliament on Tuesday evening.

"We're living longer; it's a good thing. We want to preserve and increase the choices of older Australians."

"To support the choice of older Australians who wish to stay at home and avoid going to residential aged care, the government will be increasing the number of at home care places by 14,000 over four years."

More than 18 billion U.S. dollars has been set aside to fund infrastructure projects in Australian states such as Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.

These developments include a 3.7 billion U.S.-dollar Airport Rail Link in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, and more than 2 billion U.S. dollars are allocated to improving roads and transport in South Australia and Queensland.

"The investment in road, rail and public transport projects will reduce congestion, keep our roads safe, connect people to jobs and get our produce to market," Morrison said.

"This initiative will boost our regional economy and will be backed in by a new funding round for the Building Better Regions fund."

The government's heavy spending comes as a result of an earlier than expected surplus, which could come as soon as 2019-20.

A seven-year tax cut strategy will be aimed at workers making less than 65,000 U.S. dollars per year and the government will target higher earners in coming years.

"For middle-income households, with both parents working on average wages, this will boost their 'kitchen table' budget by more than 746 U.S. dollars every year," Morrison said.

"This is not spending or a giveaway. We are simply enabling Australians to keep more of what they have earned."

Almost 375 million U.S. dollars have also been allocated to improve the water quality of the Great Barrier Reef, an Australian landmark off the coast of Queensland.

Government savings will come in the form of a crackdown on the illegal tobacco industry which is expected to raise almost 3 billion U.S. dollars over four years.

Under the new policy, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will be given expanded powers to apply taxes when tobacco enters Australia rather than when products such as cigarettes leave a licensed warehouse.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten questioned the government's priorities and said the budget "fails the fairness test".

"All the worst of (Prime Minister Malcolm) Turnbull's cuts are still in this budget -- the cuts to schools, the cuts to hospitals, and the cuts to pensioners," Shorten said in a social media post. Enditem