Analysis: Sweeteners missing from ‘healthy’ budget

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has delivered us a real sugar-free budget – one that is probably good for you, but not worth getting too excited about, writes Matthew Killoran.

There is plenty in this budget for middle Australia – you just have to have a red-headed child aged under 16 who was born on the summer solstice and has a current concession card.

Clicking your heels three times will then allow you to access a concessional loan to get some energy efficient fixtures in your home.

But you will pay more tax. And more for electricity. And you’ll probably be spending more time in traffic because there is not much for roads.

We half-jest. But this is a real sugar-free budget – one that is probably good for you, but not worth getting too excited about.

Treasurer Jim Chamlers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

That is not to say there’s not good news. The Logan-based Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver Australia’s first surplus in 15 years, an achievement not to be sneezed at even when it is the booming resources sector topping up the coffers.

He has also budgeted in such a way that the nation will hit the $1 trillion debt mark a year later, meaning the cost of paying it down is lower – and anyone paying off a mortgage or a credit card can appreciate the difference that makes.

There are worthy inclusions here as well for Aussies doing it tough, from higher JobSeeker payments and single parenting payments to a $500 energy bill rebate. But if you don’t have kids, a concession card, or qualify for rent assistance you may be left wondering what is in this budget for you.

There’s little to point to in terms of roads and rail for Queensland. Nothing, in fact.

No new spending on that front and a 90-day audit just begun which is set to deliver cuts to projects already on the books, so get used to the traffic on your commute.

The Olympics is getting the $3.4bn for stadiums and venues we already knew about.

Most people will be paying up to $1200 extra tax this year as the low-and-middle income tax offsets finally come to an end, while taxes on cigarettes are also going up.

The average Queenslander is paying $1589 a year for their electricity bill right now.

And unless you qualify for the rebate, expect that to rise by another $335 even with the coal and gas price caps which have kept a lid on the increases.

Dr Chalmers disagreed that there’s “great swathes of middle Australia who are missing out”, pointing to the budget centrepiece – $3.5bn to triple the incentive for doctors to bulk bill.

It will benefit appointments for kids under 16, pensioners and concession card holders.

There could be an argument that Australians, have become somewhat addicted to the middle-class welfare that John Howard was able to deliver when the budget was in a significantly more healthy state.

There had been no global financial crisis, no pandemic.

Dr Chalmers is trying to pull off a balancing act.

Time will tell if it all comes tumbling down.

Originally published as Analysis: Sweeteners missing from ‘healthy’ budget