The health, wellbeing, and productivity of Australia as a whole is dependent on the quality of the lives of people in society. By investing in people - education, health, housing, and their security - the long-term prosperity of the country will be ensured.
Social costs are often hidden, but solving problems of this type has broad positive consequences across the economy. By structuring policy and broader incentives, our government will reshape the justice, fairness, and sustainability outcomes of citizens, removing structural inequities to achieve better outcomes for all, and for Australia itself.
- Housing as a home
- Equitable justice for all
- Universal basic income - UBI
- Universal public health
- Access to childcare
Housing as a home
Housing is a human right. Everyone deserves to live safely in reasonable conditions, free from exploitation. People's housing arrangements may change over time, and they should be able to embrace this flexibility, rather than being driven in fear to cling onto the first opportunity they get.
- Reduce the favourable tax treatments favouring owning over renting
- Replace stamp duty with land tax, better aligning government incentives to society's real desires.
- Increase public housing from 3.2% to 10%.
- Relax the owner-occupier tax discounts to apply to spare rooms and granny flats, freeing up 13 million bedrooms.
- Fund an open-source site for real-estate listings and market data, competing with private interests who have different motives.
Universal preventative healthcare
The Australian Medicare model is one of the best health-care systems in the world, but it needs to be continually funded to achieve its benefits. Early detection and treatment of disease achieves cost savings over the long-term, and allows for a healthier and more productive population.
- Add basic mental and dental health to medicare
- Increased budgets for bulk-billing, telehealth
- Treat alcoholism and other drug dependencies as health issues.
Universal Basic Income
An ongoing, unconditional payment to all adult Australians could ensure that the basics of life are catered for. This safety net would give people the security to leave bad situations in work or in family life, and it would give them the freedom to pursue a new future that better matches their skills and ambitions in life. No conditions means no bureaucracy, which improves productivity and efficiency, saving the country money and eliminating poverty traps that discourage people from building a better future for themselves.
Fusion has committed to an implementation of UBI which would have the following characteristics:
- The direct payments would be gradually increased to at least $500 / week (in 2024 dollars) − this is the value of the Henderson Poverty Line for single, non-working adults.
- The weekly payments would be available to every adult citizen.
- The payments would be governed by an independent body (such as the Reserve Bank), not parliament
- Many conditional welfare streams would be replaced by the UBI, but for anyone receiving more (aged, disabled, carers, etc), their existing rates would be maintained, to achieve a minimum liveable income for their needs.
- Net take-home income will not change substantially for many, but every citizen will receive the security afforded by UBI.
Fusion is an ally of Basic Income Australia.
Recognition of Australia's First Nations
In line with Fusion's Fair and Inclusive Society position, Fusion stands for the Uluru Statement from the Heart as a first step to better representation of First Nations in Australia. Fusion supports the constitutional change the Uluru Statement requires to establish a First Nations Voice in Parliament.
Fusion supports steps towards a Treaty with First Nations. Australia is among the only Commonwealth countries without a legally binding treaty with its first peoples. A Treaty would provide an opportunity for First Nations people and the Australian state to speak to one another, for the first time, as sovereign to sovereign.
Fusion supports a plebiscite for setting a new date for Australia Day, with multiple dates to choose from. 26 January is a day of mourning for so many, and is more relevant to celebrating the colony of NSW than the nation of Australia.
Some possible days suggested by Fusion members include:
- The last Friday of January, so as to ensure a Summer long weekend. Australia Day can be about meeting friends and celebrating mateship.
- 10 December, the end of the Emu War. Australia has a lot to admire, but we've come a long way and there are events that we're not proud of. The victory of the emus over the Australians can be seen as our now-beloved, cherished aspects of this wide brown land managing to win out over a less appreciative nation, such that we can celebrate them today. What we inherited in 1901 was very much seen as not Britain, but we've gradually become more proud of this uniqueness.
A more just society
Justice starts with an even playing field, and requires belief by the community that people are treated equally under the law.
- Focus on outcomes and restorative justice, rather than punishment.
- Reduce recidivism by improving rehabilitation.
- Reduce actual and perceived discrimination.
LGBTIQA+ Rights
Fusion believes in a fair and inclusive society where LGBTIQA+ individuals are guaranteed safety with government intervention only to protect an individual's rights or health, or where the provision of public money is required.
The Sex Discrimination Act does not need to be amended to make discrimination easier.
Medicare should be expanded to provide long term healthcare for LGBTIQA+ individuals including prescribed gender affirming hormone treatment, surgical procedures, products and services.
Ensure schools are safe and inclusive for all students:
- Abolish the federally-funded school chaplains program and fund a youth counselling program
- Implementing safe schools program
- Implementing age appropriate sex, gender and healthy relationship education into the national curriculum
Ensure all domestic partnerships have the same legal standing regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
