Glaring $300 cash boost omission as treasurer promises cost-of-living support for millions of Aussies

Yahoo

18-03-2025

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled that while next week's Federal Budget will be a deficit, there will still be nuggets of cost-of-living relief for many. The budget will be delivered much earlier than usual this year due to the upcoming federal election, which has yet to be given an official date.
During a pre-budget speech in Brisbane on Tuesday, Chalmers didn't give away significant details of what the Budget would contain, like if the $3.5 billion energy rebate initiative would be continued. However, the budget would have an impact for everyday Australians.
'What I can say is that there'll be more cost of living help in the budget, the form of that will be made clear to you and over the course of the next week or so,' he told the Queensland Media Club.
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Shortly after his speech, he told the ABC's 7:30 Report that the government has ensured this year's Budget will be "meaningful but responsible".
'It will recognise that even though we've made a lot of progress together, we've got growth rebounding solidly, inflation down, real wages up, unemployment low, we've got the debt down," he said.
'They're all good developments but people are still doing it tough and that's why there will be cost-of-living relief in our fourth budget just like in the first three, but it will be really responsible once again.'The government has remained tight-lipped on whether it continue rebates handed down last year to help Aussies with their electricity bills.
Households across the country were given $75 every three months, totalling $300, to battle the ever-increasing utility bill.
It was recently revealed that the energy regulator approved a draft commitment to increase electricity prices by nearly 9 per cent from July, which will impact people in New South Wales, South Australia, and southeast Queensland.
Following this, Energy Minister Chris Bowen was asked whether Aussies could expect to get more energy rebates.
"As the prime minister, the treasurer and I have made clear, we will always consider what more can be done," he said.
"There's a budget coming soon, and we'll continue that approach of considering what more we can do."
The government announced last year that it planned to slash student loan debts across the country by 20 per cent.
It had already passed legislation to change the way HECS-HELP loans were indexed every year, which reduced the average debt by about $1,200.
But Labor wants to go further with a $16 billion plan to provide HECS relief.
It was announced in November as an election promise and, as a result, will have to be factored into the 2025-26 budget.
If Labor wins the federal election, it also plans to spend $427 million over five years to subsidise three days a week of child care for families who have a combined income of less than $530,000 per year.
The party plans to introduce the policy on January 1 next year.
The government also promised to follow a recommendation from the Productivity Commission to dump the activity test to make it easier for low-income parents to access cheaper child care.
The activity test weighs up how many approved activities you perform per week to determine how much subsidised child care you can receive.
The activities include paid work, unpaid work in a family business, work experience or internship, setting up your own business, study, volunteering, and actively looking for work.
The more hours you do, the more your child care is subsidised. You can find out the number of hours per activity here.
Both sides of politics have been warned about dishing out cost-of-living sweeteners ahead of the federal election.
Deloitte Access Economics partner Stephen Smith said the budget is not in the best position and throwing out headline-grabbing policies could do more harm than good.
'Against this backdrop, it is critical that each new dollar of spending is delivering value for money. Unfortunately, in the lead-up to a federal election, that is not the case,' he said.
'Value for money can be hard to come by in election years, but the long-term budget projections show deficits as far as the eye can see, and ineffective spending is the last thing Australia needs.'
Chalmers has revealed that next week's budget will be in the red.
While his government was able to deliver back-to-back surpluses, which hadn't been achieved in a decade, the Treasurer said this year was a little different.
"A defining feature of our first three budgets was responsible economic management. That will be a defining feature of the fourth as well," he said.
"Even this year, where we will be printing a deficit for this year, it will be much, much smaller than what we inherited from our political opponents, and that shows the progress we have been able to make."
The mid-year economic outlook forecast a $26.9 billion deficit for the 2024-25 financial year.
It's expected to blow out to $46.9 billion in 2025-26.
The Budget will be delivered on Tuesday, March 25 at Parliament House in Canberra.
Chalmers will outline all the funding measures that will be put in place for 12 months from July 1 this year.
The government hasn't yet revealed when the federal election will be.
There was speculation it could be next month, however, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shot that down recently.
The election will have to be held on or by May 17.Sign in to access your portfolio