Susie O’Brien: Federal Budget 2025-26 leaves Australia feeling like a Cold Chisel fan

Jim Chalmers wants to be U2, looking after us from the cradle to the grave, but this budget leaves us feeling like Cold Chisel fans, left with little more than cheap wine and a three-day growth.

This government wants to be like rock band U2, looking after people from the cradle to the grave.

However, a thorough look at this budget will make us feel more like Cold Chisel fans, left with little more than cheap wine and a three-day growth.

Or should that be cheaper power and a $5 tax cut?

The spending promises – most of which were previously announced – will do little longer term to help struggling families.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers may say there is “substantial progress in turning the economy and the budget position around”, but the average Australian family paying 30 per cent more for groceries and battling to meet soaring mortgage repayments will continue to feel hip-pocket pain.

In one recent survey, eight in 10 voters said they wanted to see handouts from this pre-election budget.

The government obliged and delivered a $150 energy rebate for the second half of this year only.

In a state like Victoria, it’s hardly going to cover the cost of power increases projected for next year.

Dr Chalmers may assert this is non-inflationary, but there’s no guarantee given the $1.8bn outlay of public money involved.

The third round of tax cuts, which the government did not have to continue to deliver, has also been met.

The first will offer only $537 a year in relief for a two-income family on $190,000.

That’s just $10 a week for a mid-income family, which won’t cover the increased cost of going to the supermarket.

Making matters worse, it won’t even hit until the middle of next year.

The second tax cut will come another year later.

The Albanese government wants to be U2 but is more Cold Chisel. Picture: David Swift.

Dr Chalmers has made it all about the individual: “Whether you’re a truckie, a teacher or a tradie, whether you’re in manufacturing, mining or the care economy, you will earn more and keep more of what you earn.”

This kind of Jimmy Barnes working-class rhetoric is a surefire sign an election is looming, but even the most selfish of voters wants to see structural reform alongside handouts.

What, for instance, is the government doing to rein in the bloated profits of the two biggest supermarket chains, which contribute significantly to cost-of-living woes?

Inquiries are all very well, but we need real and lasting action to break up the duopoly.

Similarly, energy rebates are handy, but what’s being done to ensure customers paying thousands of dollars a year are getting a fair deal from power companies and are protected from price gouging by energy providers?

Despite Dr Chalmers’ claims of fiscal improvement, government debt will reach $940bn this financial year.

The Treasurer may point out that it’s “$177bn less than what we inherited” but we continue to move away from responsible financial management.

Victorians already saddled with a huge state debt will feel particularly aggrieved by this.

Victorians also lose on infrastructure spending, with funding commitments significantly less than other states.

There’s $2bn to upgrade Sunshine Station as a precursor to the airport rail link we’ve waited 60 years for, $1bn for the Western Freeway and an extra $1bn for potholes. It’s welcome money but nothing compared to the $7bn for Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

There’s nothing for the much-maligned Suburban Rail Loop, which may be a blessing given the drubbing the scheme received recently from Infrastructure Australia.

There are some wins.

The signing of the long-awaited Better and Fairer Schools deal is welcome, but the full 5 per cent increase in funding to state schools will not be felt for a decade. Until then, government school students will be spending a lot more time in overcrowded hot and dusty portable classrooms.

There’s much work to be done to meet education goals such as lifting NAPLAN standards and school attendance.

Moves to limit foreign ownership of Australian houses are welcome, but come amid news that the National Housing Accord has failed to meet its targets in delivering new homes.

Also welcome are more bulk-billing doctors and cheaper medicines under the PBS.

Students will welcome cuts to HELP debts, but at $19bn it’s hardly fiscally responsible and feels like a bribe to wrestle student votes away from minor parties.

Much more justifiable are changes to child care, which will give parents three days of subsidies without having to meet activity tests. Such changes will affect one million families and bring about productivity boosts by allowing more women to work.

With the budget now out of the way, we’ll soon be in full election mode. The Labor government hopes it’s done enough to earn another term – with or without you, as U2 would put it.