Families lose out as Prime Minister Julia Gillard scraps $600 boost to family tax Prime Minister Julia Gillard woudl not answer questions on why the promise to help families was broken. FAMILIES in Julia Gillard's electorate will be the biggest losers from the Prime Minister's latest broken promise - the scrapping of a $600 boost to the family tax payment. An analysis by News Limited of Family Tax Benefit part A recipients by electorate has shown 23,895 families in the Prime Minister's Melbourne base of Lalor were set to get the extra payment, promised by Labor in last year's budget. Finance Minister Penny Wong yesterday announced the government would scrap the pledged boost - worth $300 a year for families with one child and $600 for those with two or more children. She also revealed the government was facing a $17 billion revenue hole this financial year due to worsening economic conditions. It came as economic forecaster Deloitte Access Economics said the "magic pudding" had collapsed and predicted budget deficits through to 2015-16. The top ten electorates most impacted by the slashing to the family payment boost are all held by Labor and include heartland seats such as Ed Husic's western Sydney base of Chifley. Gillard backer Brendan O'Connor - who was promoted into Chris Bowen's job of Immigration Minister following the leadership showdown between Ms Gillard and Kevin Rudd - was also high on the list of beneficiaries as were cabinet ministers Craig Emerson and Jason Clare. The Prime Minister refused to answer questions yesterday on why the promise to help families with extra cash was broken. Her office said simply: "Eligibility for Family Tax Benefit is based on income, not where you live." When the boost was initially announced last year as part of Labor's "Spreading the benefits of the boom" package from the mining tax revenue Ms Gillard told Parliament: "We will continue to work with families to help them make ends meet." It was due to kick in from July 1 this year and was estimated to benefit 1.5 million families. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told News Limited yesterday the scrapping to the boost was "further evidence that Labor can't be trusted." "This is yet another example of a broken promise by Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan," Mr Abbott said. This is further evidence that if Labor is re-elected anything that is 'funded' by the mining tax will be cut. Australian Council of Social Services chief Cassandra Goldie said the government should look to save money for the budget in areas such as the Baby Bonus and the Schoolkids Bonus rather than the boost to the Family Tax Benefit. "We understand the current pressures on the budget but quite frankly there are other more important areas where savings can be found rather than going back on a promise that would greatly assist around a million of our nation's lowest earning families," Dr Goldie said. For families like those in the Prime Minister's electorate who are really experiencing hardship, they need something like this.