Sex Party Budget Reply: Unacceptable Church Bias For a Secular Budget

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Published on Friday, 16 May 2014 02:30

Sex Party President, Fiona Patten, has angrily blasted the Federal Budget and pointed to the $250 million increase in funding for the school Chaplaincy program as evidence that the Federal government is being run by religious zealots and is totally out of touch with modern Australia.

“There seems to be a seismic shift in this country when you consider that funding to universities and science are under sustained attack whilst the Federal Cabinet throws a massive amount of money at a program designed to prop up the rapidly falling appeal of religion in this country, she said. This budget, attacking education and the sciences whilst propping up the Church, is straight out of a prayer book from the Dark Ages.’

Following one of the toughest Budgets in memory Ms Patten has repeated her call for a total overhaul of the tax system with particular attention to the treatment of religious organisations.

“In light of the sickening evidence being given at Royal Commissions into Church Child Sex Abuse and the pain being inflicted on the average citizen by the budget it is timely to remind Australians that Church-owned businesses continue to receive billions of dollars of tax concessions including being exempt from income tax.”

As revealed recently at the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse, the Sydney Archdiocese of the Catholic Church alone controls over $ 1 billion dollars in assets with a yearly turnover in the millions. The chancellor of the archdiocese confirmed that these assets and profits were run through income tax exempt charities which also enjoy capital tax exemptions.

“ Churches and religious organizations receive a multitude of tax breaks from income tax exemptions, GST concessions and exemptions from capital gains tax (on property and share trading) and Fringe Benefits Tax. Income tax exemptions alone are costing the Australian tax payer around $ 20 billion a year”, Patten said

“If the Abbott government truly believes everyone needs to shoulder some of the burden well it is time to seriously review the anti-competitive tax breaks given to the Catholic Church and other religious organizations.”