Treasurer Jim Chalmers has delivered his fourth federal budget, setting the stage for the upcoming federal election that is likely to be called in a matter of days.
Much of the budget targets individuals, offering significant cost-of-living relief to attract voters before they go to the polls.
Key measures for individuals include:
- Tax cuts for all
- Higher threshold for the Medicare levy
- Debt reduction for university students
- More free vocational education placements
- Three days of subsidised childcare with no activity testing
- Energy bill relief
- Increased incentives for bulk-billing GPs
- Lower prices on PBS-listed medicines
- Slight increase in support for first-home buyers
Business support is minimal, with a few exceptions:
- A two-year freeze on the beer excise for brewers
- $20 million to promote Australian-made products
- $2 billion for green aluminium and $1 billion for green steel production
- Incentives for construction apprentices and a new national licensing scheme for electricians.
Unfortunately, this will be funded by an increased Government budget deficit; with the net impact of the budget expected to lead to increased spending of $103 million in 2025/26, $3.4 billion in 2026/27, $6.1 billion in 2027/28 and $4.5 billion in 2028/29.
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