Federal Budget to give shot in the arm

AUSTRALIANS will be promised help with cost-of-living pressures in a Turnbull Government Budget tomorrow framed as targeting “fairness, security and opportunity”. WHAT TO EXPECT

Treasurer Scott Morrison hinted at an infrastructure bonanza. Picture: Ray Strange

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AUSTRALIANS will win a hip-pocket reprieve tomorrow to offset years of slow wage growth amid a dramatic priority resetting by the Turnbull Government.

Heeding weathervane voters in Queensland, Treasurer Scott Morrison’s Budget will unveil measures to keep medicine cheap and end longstanding Medicare rebate freezes – a move to secure high rates of bulk billing.

In a pre-Budget interview with The Courier-Mail, the Treasurer revealed the Budget would reward Australians for their hard work, pointing to those striving to own their first home, and will acknowledge those who have worked hard but have nothing much to show for their sacrifices.

What to expect from the Federal Budget.

Mr Morrison said he understood many of the cost-of-living pressures were felt by Queenslanders, who were still struggling from the downturn in the mining boom.

He hinted to an infrastructure bonanza would be injected into the state to provide jobs and productivity gains.

Struggling households will within weeks receive cash to turn on their heaters this winter, with Mr Morrison confirming for the first time when a long-promised bonus will be paid. It will be $75 for singles and $125 for couples.

The Treasurer’s second economic manifesto is centred on “the right choices to secure ... better days ahead” and “based on the principles of fairness, security and opportunity.

The theme of Mr Morrison’s Budget speech tomorrow night will focus on four key pillars:

• Growing the economy for better paid jobs.

• Guarantee the services Australians rely on.

• Putting downward pressure on the rising cost of living.

• Ensuring the Government lives within its means.

“Queenslanders have been working incredibly hard and they may not have got as far ahead as they would like, and for many, not at all,’’ Mr Morrison said. “They need to know that their sacrifices and the hard work they’ve been putting in has been worth it and I think the Budget will encourage them and endorse their hard effort.

“One of the things that has been clear is when wage growth is so modest then people’s sensitivity to things like the cost of going to a doctor, the cost of medicines, the cost of electricity bills, the cost of rent, how much of it is left over ... if anything at all, people are a lot more conscious of that.

“I think in this Budget we’ve shown a keen awareness of the sensitivities of Queenslanders to those challenges they are facing.

“When we talk about how the economy has been impacted in recent times, I think there’s a really important Queensland story in all of this.

“So while the national economy has been performing well against all the advanced economies in the world, it’s true to say many in Queensland would not have been experiencing that in the same way as (other states).”

Mr Morrison said Queensland had some of the largest falls in home ownership in the past decade.

He refused to be drawn into whether there would be funding for Brisbane’s Cross River Rail project. There will definitely be Government investment for the long-touted Melbourne to Brisbane inland freight rail plan.

“Obviously infrastructure needs in Queensland are very important and of course they will receive attention (tomorrow) night.”

Asked if Australians would have more money in their pocket from the Budget, Mr Morrison said they would.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for more infrastructure funding to be included in the Budget to help ease traffic congestion woes in the southeast.