Speaker – this budget builds on the progress we’ve made, together. It’s a plan to help with the cost of living.
Cost of living is the first thing mentioned … but you would hope it’s more than just a plan.
With two new tax cuts, and higher wages – more bulk billing, and more help with electricity bills. Cheaper medicines and less student debt.
Tax cuts, energy rebates, Medicare boosts – it sure feels like election season.
Speaker – our economy is turning the corner. Inflation is down, incomes are rising, unemployment is low, interest rates are coming down, debt is down, and growth is picking up momentum.
You left out “deficits are higher than expected”.
And just on that “debt is down” part. Since 2022, sure. But not if you’re measuring against last year’s budget forecast.
This progress has been exceptional, but not accidental. The credit belongs to Australians in every corner of our country.
We’ve come a long way, but there’s more work to do.
This budget is our plan for a new generation of prosperity in a new world of uncertainty. It’s a plan to help finish the fight against inflation.
Some will argue tax cuts and other stimulus aren’t really a knockout punch against inflation, especially if households are in a spending mood.
Every Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut next year and the year after, to top up the tax cuts which began last July. This will take the first tax rate down to its lowest level in more than half a century.
These additional tax cuts are modest but will make a difference. The average earner will have an extra $536 in their pocket each year when they’re fully implemented.
Combined with our first round of tax cuts, this rises to $2,190. And the average total tax cut will be $2,548, or about $50 a week.
These tax cuts won’t fully kick in until 2027. Plus for many Australians, rent, groceries and other essentials have risen by much more than $50 a week. So whether this is an election-winning policy is still to be proven.
The silence on renters here is particularly noteworthy. There doesn’t appear to be much in this budget specifically for Australians facing soaring rents and poor living standards in a rental market with such low vacancy rates there’s little incentive for landlords to make improvements.
Clean energy and jobs. There’s not much else of note for the environment in this budget.
An ad campaign that successfully convinces us to buy locally produced goods over significantly cheaper foreign alternatives will be some task.
Security and safety, and sending a signal to our enemies.
