Budget 2024: Jim Chalmers grilled over ‘giving extra money to wealthy people’ with energy bill relief

Jacqui Lambie has erupted over Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ decision to give every household a $300 energy rebate - questioning why wealthy Aussies need the handout.

Jacqui Lambie has erupted over Anthony Albanese’s plan to hand out the same $300 energy rebate to every Australian including billionaires.

The Tasmanian Independent said the government appeared to be “chucking money out” ahead of the election, labelling the budget sweetener a “joke”.

Speaking on the ABC, she said the plan to hand out $300 to every Aussie from July 1 regardless of income was “really bizarre”.

“Not means tested? Are we back in COVID days? We’re just chucking money, left, right and centre,’’ she said.

“Seriously, you’re too lazy to do some means testing. We don’t need $300. I can assure you. That should have been passed forward.

“You can’t be friggin well...You can’t be, you’ve got to be joking me? You have to be joking me.”

Senator Lambie said she was not impressed.

“This is the best budget they can come up with?,’’ she asked. “Oh my God!”

Senator Lambie then said more money should be going to mental health.

“We have kids out there that are completely out of control,’’ she said.

“I mean, for goodness me, they’ve got an election coming up in Launceston and there’s youth crime off its head up there.

“They don’t want to talk about it or know about it, let alone supply places for our kids to go with drug and alcohol problems.”

Jacqui Lambie has erupted over Anthony Albanese’s plan to hand out the same $300 energy rebate to every Australian including billionaire. Picture: ABC

David Pocock said the government should have set aside more money to transitioning to electrifying households. Picture: ABC

Independent Senator David Pocock questioned why more money wasn’t set aside to electrifying households.

“When we look at $300 to every household in Australia, I think we would be much smarter as a country investing in household electrification.”

“Households could be saving $2,000 to $5,000 every year going forward.”

‘Why will they get $300?’: Treasurer cops grilling

Lambie’s rant came shortly after Treasurer Jim Chalmers faced a grilling over the energy bill rebate.

During a testy interview on the ABC’s 7.30 program, host Sarah Ferguson repeatedly challenged Dr Chalmers on whether this was a good idea.

Denying he was “spraying around cash”, Dr Chalmers said the impact of cost of living pressure was hurting everyone.

But the ABC host wasn’t having a bar of it, accusing him of failing to answer the question.

“You talked about middle Australia but there’s a whole bunch of people who aren’t in middle Australia, like yourself, who don’t need help paying their bills,’’ she said.

“Why do you need to give energy relief to those people?”

Dr Chalmers said the rebate would put downward pressure on inflation and as a result interest rates.

“First of all, I think these cost-of-living pressures go up and down the income scale,’’ he said.

But before he could continue, the ABC host jumped in to take issue with his claim.

“Yes, they fall disproportionately on the people on the lowest incomes and fixed incomes and they are obviously our priority,’’ she said.

“But I think people are under the pump right around Australia,’’ the Treasurer replied.

Ferguson then asked if he would “acknowledge there are people who are not under the pump.”

“We hear about a lot of baby boomers, those people who’ve won the housing lottery and so on,’’ she said.

“Why will they get $300 in their pocket?”

Dr Chalmers said his answer was that cost-of-living pressures applied “pretty broadly in our community”.

Jim Chalmers was grilled on his budget after delivering the list of long-awaited measures being taken to help the hip pockets of taxpayers.

“The simplest way to deliver this cost of living relief is via energy bills,’’ he said.

“And once you go beyond providing it to people who are on pensions and payments who are our priority in the last budget, once you go beyond that it makes sense to go broadly.

“Some of the cost of living package is broad, every household gets an energy bill relief.

“Every taxpayer gets a tax cut, and then there’s targeted cost of living help.”

Ferguson then replied, “You’ve already done the tax cut and here you are deciding to give extra money to wealthy people.”

Liberal Party reacts to rebate

Speaking on the ABC, Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor was challenged on whether the Coalition will back the rebate.

Mr Taylor said the Coalition would not stand in the way.

“Sure,’’ he said.

“(But) you should be dealing with the source of the problem when inflation is raging.

“The government isn’t because it’s a political, big spending budget, designed for an election for an inflationary cost-of-living crisis.

“Now, when all you’ve got is a band aid to put on the bullet wound, that’s what you do.

“And that’s what, that’s all that labour is offering here.”

Originally published as Budget 2024: Jim Chalmers grilled over ‘giving extra money to wealthy people’ with energy bill relief