Voters have only themselves to blame for last week’s budget cuts

THE furious reaction to yet another iniquitous budget, in which the most vulnerable in society are again expected to make the biggest relative contribution to our national recovery, belies the fact that 56% of the population in the last general election voted for right-wing parties that ran on a platform of maintaining tax rates and cutting services — which is exactly what happened last Wednesday.

Now, as the reality of that ideology begins to sink in, with low and middle income families disproportionately targeted by a government desperate to make crude savings, it’s time that the electorate asked themselves why they continue to vote in haste and repent at leisure.

If it’s true that we get the politicians that we deserve, then voters need to take some degree of responsibility for continuing to return right-leaning parties as the majority coalition partner in government because, unless voting patterns change, the same regressive policies will continue to be implemented and levels of inequality will continue to grow.