Jim Chalmers to hand down cost-of-living federal budget on Tuesday night
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has drawn clear election battle lines over one scheme as he prepares to hand down his fourth budget.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the upcoming federal election will be “a referendum on Medicare” ahead of handing down Tuesday night’s budget, which is expected to focus on cost-of-living relief for Australians.
“The budget is about strengthening Medicare and the election is Australia’s opportunity to protect it,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on his way into parliament Tuesday.
“And safeguard it against Peter Dutton. The election will be a referendum on Medicare.”
Tropical Cyclone Alfred delayed the yet-undeclared election, bringing into play a fourth budget for the government for the first time in 80 years.
Asked if Tuesday night’s budget was an election boosting budget, the Treasurer said “it’s a very welcome opportunity to put the economy front and centre on the eve of an election”.
“This is not a budget for the election. It’s a budget to build Australia’s future,” he said.
Dr Chalmers’ fourth budget is expected to provide more cost-of-living measures as Anthony Albanese prepares to call the election, possibly within days.
Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor says Australia will see a “lost decade” without a restoration of standard of living in the upcoming budget.
“Right now the plan for the budget, or the last budget indeed, was that we wouldn’t get back to the standard of living we had when we were in government, the Coalition was in government, until 2030 or beyond,” he said.
“This will be a lost decade for Australian families, a lost decade for Australian families. So the first test for this budget is to restore our standard of living quickly and get back on the pathway to prosperity for Australians that we’ve been used to in this country.”
Mr Taylor accused the government of a “tax grab” and wasteful spending.
The Prime Minister was in campaign mode on Tuesday morning, taking every opportunity to criticise the opposition rather than promote the cost-of-living measures in the budget.
Mr Albanese did say this budget’s $150 energy bill rebates could either have been based on income or given to every household; he chose the latter.
“You can either just give them to people who are welfare recipients or you can give them to all Australians,” he told the ABC.
“What we want to make sure is that we delivered them (energy rebates) to working Australians who are struggling because of cost-of-living pressures.
“And so it is far more efficient to deliver it in the way that we have, to make sure that every Australian household receives this support because that is what is deserved.”
As opposition leader, Mr Albanese said Labor had a two-term strategy, and as prime minister, he had continually pushed for longer, four-year terms.
Asked if a re-elected Labor would be more bold, Mr Albanese said nine years of Coalition government left huge holes in Medicare, aged care and education.
“We’ve inherited a mess. We inherited a $78bn deficit in our first year that we turned into a $22bn surplus.
“We inherited an aged care system that was in crisis … We inherited a childcare system that wasn’t going to have enough workforce to look after our young Australians. We inherited a health system where bulk billing was in free fall,” he said.
Mr Albanese went on to promote Labor’s track record of investments in urgent care clinics, public education, domestic violence issues, the gender pay gap, reproductive health, and lowering inflation.
“We turned that around and got tax cuts to every Australian. These are all measures we’re put in place in our first term. They provide a foundation for our positive agenda in our second term,” he said.
Mr Albanese told caucus on Monday the budget would deliver for working Australians.
“We are unashamed to stand for workers receiving their entitlements and cost-of-living relief,” Mr Albanese said.
“This budget will build on strong foundations,” the Prime Minister said.
“We are kicking with the wind because we have a coherent set of values that are about that.”
Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor said Australia would be walking into a “lost decade” without a lift in the national standard of living.
“Right now the plan for the budget, or the last budget indeed, was that we wouldn’t get back to the standard of living we had when we were in government, the Coalition was in government, until 2030 or beyond,” he said as per The Australian.
“This will be a lost decade for Australian families.
“So the first test for this budget is to restore our standard of living quickly and get back on the pathway to prosperity for Australians that we’ve been used to in this country.”
Mr Taylor reiterated the Coalition’s attack lines, labelling Tuesday night’s budget a “tax grab” filled with wasteful spending.
The budget, which has been in the calendar for March 25 for months, was expected to be shelved for Mr Albanese to call an election for April 12.
But he canned that option after Cyclone Alfred threatened millions across South East Queensland and northern NSW on the weekend he had to call it.
The election needs to be held by May 17, with May 3 and May 10 the only other options.
Already, the government has announced the rebate on power bills will be extended until the end of the year, with an extra $150 added. The rebates will continue to apply to most small businesses as well.
The government has also committed to reductions to most Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines, with the cost of about 80 per cent to be cut from $31.50 to $25.
Mr Chalmers, who will hand down the budget at 7.30pm, has defended the cost-of-living measures as responsible but necessary.
“It’s about recognising that even with all this progress on inflation, we’ve got inflation from higher than 6 per cent and rising when we came to office,” he said.
“Now 2.4 per cent. We know that people are still under the pump, and so we’re doing what we responsibly can to help people with the cost of living.”
Meanwhile, Mr Chalmers has also revealed Labor has achieved a $177bn reduction in gross debt in its first term of government despite rolling deficits forecast for the next decade.
Gross debt in 2024-25 is expected to remain at $940bn, which the government says is a stark $177bn downgrade from the $1.1 trillion figure forecast in the pre-election financial outlook prior to the 2022 election.
Ahead of this budget, the Coalition has claimed a record high income tax revenue is expected, as the population grows and more people creep into the next highest tax bracket.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will deliver his budget-in-reply speech, which is expected to outline a new policy, in parliament on Thursday night.
More to come
Originally published as Jim Chalmers to hand down cost-of-living federal budget on Tuesday night
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