Federal budget 2024: Australia’s winners and losers

Thousands of Australians have bagged out the Labor Government for its latest federal budget. See their thoughts and have your say.

Australians aren’t holding back with their opinions on this year’s federal budget.

More than 10,000 people have responded to a News Corp poll asking, “How do you score the federal budget and its impact on you?”

The result is overwhelmingly negative, with almost 40 per cent of people responding “poor” while 35 per cent of people said “very poor”.

“The biggest loser is Australia,” said one commenter.

“There is no structural reform of the health system,” said another. “The government has not addressed critical GP shortages, Medicare rebates for GP visits and the frozen scheduled fees for procedures that lead to excessive out-of-pocket costs.”

“Millionaires and billionaires to received $300 in electricity bill relief. I am sure this will give them a reasonable night out for dinner,” said an online reader.

“A dud of a budget,” concluded another.

Meanwhile, 16 per cent have said the budget is “adequate” while only 6 per cent and 4 per cent say the breakdown is “good” and “very good” respectively.

See our five-minute guide for a full – but concise – overview of this year’s federal budget.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2024 federal budget winners and losers

WINNERS

HOUSEHOLDS

• $300 for households and 1 million small businesses will receive $325 in energy bill relief.

• $3.4m to list new medicines on the PBS plus five-year price freeze for pensioners and concession card holders.

• ACCC to undertake a 12-month inquiry into the supermarket sector plus a separate review of the Food and Grocery Code.

• Consumer organisation CHOICE to publish quarterly supermarket price comparison reports.

 

UNI STUDENTS

• $3bn worth of HECS debt wiped for more than three million Aussies, with changes backdated to July 1, 2023. Those with average HECS debts of $26,500 would save $1200, while those with debts of $100,000 would save $5000.

• Those studying teaching would be eligible for a $319.50 weekly payment during their professional placement, starting from July 2025. About 68,000 eligible higher education students and 5000 VET students each year will have access to the means-tested Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme.

• $350m for fee-free uni-ready courses

• $90m for 20,000 new fee-free TAFE and VET places and pre-apprenticeships

• $6.5m for a trial of online age verification tech to stop young people viewing pornography and violence.

WORKERS

• All Australian taxpayers earning above the tax-free threshold of $18,200 get a tax cut under Labor’s changes to the previous stage three tax cuts. Average household expected to be about $1900 better off.

• $90m to address the skilled construction worker shortage through 20,000 new fee-free TAFE and VET places and pre-apprenticeships.

DEFENCE

• $50.3bn into defence over the next decade as part of long-awaited revamp of the nation’s armed forces strategy.

HEALTH

• Student nurses, midwives and social workers would be eligible for $319.50-per-week payment via means-tested Commonwealth Prac Payment during clinical and professional placement periods from July 2025.

• $49.1m to give women suffering complex gynaecological conditions including endometriosis better access to specialist doctors, with longer specialist consultations of 45 minutes or more to be covered under Medicare from July 1, 2025.

• 29 extra Medicare Urgent Care Clinics at a cost of $227m.

WOMEN

• $5000 in financial support to help women leave a violent partner – including $1500 cash and $3500 in goods and services – under the Leaving Violence Program; $925.2m to be invested over five years.

• $7 million over four yeras for miscarriage educational resoures and frontline support services, which will benefit up to 150,000 families affected by miscarriage each year. The government will also provide $6.5 million for a scoping study of miscarriages, creating visibility over Australia’s pregnancy loss rate for the first time.

PARENTS

• 12 per cent superannuation to be paid to those on commonwealth parent leave payments.

FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA

• Billions of dollars invested in supporting Australian innovation and industry, including $566.1m over 10 years to deliver maps, data and other tools to “fully map” Australian resources. Future Made in Australia policy aims to boost incentives for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

• $1bn each for Solar Sunshot production of solar panels in the Hunter Region in NSW, and PsiQuantum to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane.

INDIGENOUS

• $700m remote jobs program, contained in February’s Closing The Gap document.

• $4bn remote housing program for the Northern Territory.

FARMERS

• Farmers and regional communities to have access to $519.1m to help prepare for future droughts.

• $625m to help farmers and rural communities reduce emissions and better prepare for climate change and drought.

UKRAINE

• $100m in military assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia including short-range air defence systems, precision bombs, drones and equipment including generators, boats, helmets and boots.

LAW AND ORDER

• $160m to establish a national firearms register, to track ownership and distribution in real time.

• Extra $100m over two years to set up a National Criminal Intelligence System.

• $11m for an app alerting Australians in real time if somebody tries to use their data to commit fraud.

SPORTS

• $250m to overhaul Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra to boost our chances of medals at 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

STATES AND TERRITORIES

• New $9.3bn national agreement on social housing plus $1bn for states and territories to build roads and other infrastructure projects.

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

• $290m in cashflow support for up to four million small businesses.

• Extending the instant asset write-off; small businesses with a turnover of less than $10m will be able to deduct assets costing less than $20,000 until June 30, 2025.

LOSERS

MOTORISTS

• Treasury expects to rake in record sums from diesel and petrol tax in coming years, with fuel revenue to increase by about $1bn a year for the next four years.

DRINKERS

• The excise on alcohol, derisively known as the infinity tax because of the twice-yearly CPI-linked uplift, is expected to yield $9.4bn by 2027-28 financial year.

HOMEBUYERS

• Despite the cost of building a new house rising almost $20,000 in the past year, the Budget did not include assistance to help homebuyers with the cost of buying a property.

CONSULTANTS AND CONTRACTORS

• Consultants and contractors slashed by $1bn, with the Albanese government cutting back on consultants, contractors and labour hire.

How federal budget is spent

Where federal budget money comes from

SOME GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

• While most government departments are expected to grow their numbers in 2024-25, a few agencies will take a staffing cut. The biggest cut will be in the CSIRO, which will shed 146 staff, while the Department of Veteran’s Affairs will lose 78, and the Attorney-General’s Department will lose 96. The Office of National Intelligence will shrink by 19 staff, and the Australian Public Service Commission will lose 15.

START-UPS

• Despite the Australian zeal for new ideas, no money was allocated to start ups or entrepreneurs in the budget.

BIG SUPER BALANCES

• Those with super fund balances of more than $3m will see tax on earnings rise from 15 per cent to 30 per cent from July 1, 2025.

HIGHLY PAID WORKERS

• Those earning more than $146,486 will receive less than what they would have under the Coalition’s stage three tax reform plan.

SHEEP FARMERS

• Sheep farmers say phasing out live exports by May 2028 is not feasible, despite $107m transition support package.

Originally published as Federal budget 2024: Australia’s winners and losers