Coalition: restoring Australians’ living standards key ‘test’ for Labor’s budget

Labor’s budget will be a ‘fail’ if it does not restore Australians’ standard of living eroded by years of soaring costs and ‘wisely’ spend taxpayer dollars with ‘discipline and honesty’, the Coalition has declared.

Labor’s budget will be a “fail” if it does not restore Australians’ standard of living eroded by years of soaring costs and “wisely” spend taxpayer dollars with “discipline and honesty,” the Coalition has declared.

Weeks away from a federal election both parties are sharpening their economic attacks, with the Coalition challenging Labor to use the budget to deliver a plan “for the next five years, not just the next five weeks”.

Coalition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor has set out a ‘test’ for Labor’s budget. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor will on Tuesday lay out a “test” for the Albanese Government’s fourth budget, saying it must restore prosperity and create opportunity for all Australians to get ahead, such as helping young people buy a home.

“Australians need strong economic leadership more than ever, but Labor has failed to deliver a clear strategy to ease cost-of-living pressures and support small businesses,” he said.

“Instead of responsible financial management, we’ve seen reckless spending, increased

taxes, and poor policy decisions that have only made life more expensive for families and

businesses.”

Coalition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume says Labor has been ‘reckless’ with spending. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He said the Coalition’s three “tests” — restoring standard of living, creating opportunity for all Australians, and displaying budget discipline and honesty — would determine if Labor was properly focused on longer term reforms or just the imminent election.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Human said Labor’s “reckless and wasteful spending” had kept inflation higher for longer, causing interest rates to remain high and putting further pressure on families.

“Australians need a budget that reduces spending, improves productivity, and improves living standards,” she said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday said Mr Taylor, who is currently visiting key marginal seats around Australia, should tell those voters he “tried to deny them a tax cut” when Labor amended the “stage three” cuts last year.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken aim at the Coalition for not backing all of Labor’s cost of living measures this term. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

“If Angus Taylor had his way, wages would be lower, millions of workers wouldn’t be getting a tax cut at all, and there wouldn’t be cost of living help,” Mr Chalmers said.

“That means Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off.”

Asked if governments were becoming too reliant on ordinary working Australians paying income tax to prop up the budget, Mr Chalmers said it was one of the reasons Labor had reformatted the cuts last year.

Under those changes workers on $25,000 got a $204 annual tax cut, people earning $60,000 saved $1,179, while those on $100,000 saved $2,179.

Mr Chalmers said a “defining feature” of Labor’s first budgets were “responsible economic management” and that would be the case again next week.

He said the deficit for 2024-25, which was most recently forecast to reach $26.9 billion, would be “much, much smaller” than Labor had inherited from the Coalition.

“That shows the progress we have been able to make,” he said.

Originally published as Coalition: restoring Australians’ living standards key ‘test’ for Labor’s budget