First time’s no charm
AUSTRALIANS have been promised a “bread and butter” budget on Tuesday – one which will be “resilient” but “won’t be fancy”.
With the world on the brink of a recession, Jim Chalmers has sought to downplay expectations about his first budget.
The Treasurer has said “tough decisions” will need to be made as Labor begins the onerous task of budget repair.
Dr Chalmers routinely names the five fastest growing areas of government spending.
Over the next four years, hospital spending will increase by 6.1 per cent, aged care costs will rise by 5.5 per cent and defence spending by 4.4 per cent.
National Disability Insurance Scheme spending is forecast to increase by 12.1 per cent per year.
Dr Chalmers has stressed Australia isn’t immune from deteriorating global economic conditions despite an unexpected nearly $50bn improvement to the budget deficit because of low unemployment and high commodities prices.
Dr Chalmers says he will deliver a budget to bolster Australia’s fiscal defences and provide “responsible” cost of living relief with an “economic dividend”.
The budget will lay the foundations for a more substantial May 2023 budget.
Here’s some of what we can expect.
STAGE 3 TAX CUTS
DEBATE over the contentious stage three tax cuts package dominated headlines earlier in October after speculation arose over whether they would be scrapped or pared back.
But Labor has ruled out making any changes to the policy, at least for now.
CHEAPER MEDICINES
THE costs of some common medicines will be reduced by $12.50 from January 2023.
Labor has introduced legislation to reduce the amount customers pay towards the cost of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The Bill, expected to pass through both houses and become law, will slash the maximum general co-payment on the PBS from $42.50 to $30.
COVID-19
THE government will spend $1.4bn to extend Covid-19 response measures by three months until 31 December this year. Funding includes $840m for aged care support including on-site PCR testing; $142m in Medicare rebates for testing; and $235m to distribute PPE and rapid antigen tests from the National Medical Stockpile to at-risk groups and frontline healthcare workers.
CHILDCARE
THE Treasurer has said cheaper childcare will be Labor’s “biggest on-budget commitment”. Labor made cheaper childcare a cornerstone of its election campaign.
TAFE
THE Albanese government announced at its jobs and skills summit in September it would create an additional 180,000 free places at the nation’s public training provider in 2023.
These will be made up of 60,000 additional places and by dropping the fees of 120,000 existing paid TAFE spots.
It will form part of a $1.1bn package devised by national cabinet, shared 50:50 between the federal government and the states and territories.
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
LABOR’S election promise was to fund an extra 20,000 university places for underrepresented students in areas of skills shortage.
In order to access the funding, higher education providers must allocate the places to students from low socio-economic backgrounds or rural and remote areas, people with disabilities and Indigenous students. Education Minister Jason Clare has said the 20,000 places will be funded over two years from 2023.
MIGRATION
THE Albanese government promised at the Jobs and Skills Summit to accelerate visa processing times and announced an extra $36.1m to hire up to 500 people in the Home Affairs Department for nine months to help clear a backlog of nearly a million visa s.
INFRASTRUCTURE
THE budget will include $9.6bn for road and rail projects including $2.2bn for the Suburban Rail Link in Victoria.
The government has declared there will be no more cash for “zombie projects” which had been canned, but which the former Coalition government kept on the books, including Melbourne’s East West Link.
PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
AUSTRALIA’S paid parental leave scheme will be extended from 18 to 26 weeks, adding an extra fortnight each year until the full 26 weeks is available from July 2026.