Tax cuts likely for workers

TAX cuts are coming for everyday Australians, but a trillion-dollar debt burden is all but unavoidable, which will have consequences for future generations.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will hand down a big-spending, jobs-focused budget today as he seeks to lock in Australia’s recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

News Corp understands the budget deficit is on track to fall to about $160bn, well down on the $197bn forecast in December.

But economists warn the trajectory towards $1 trillion debt will likely be reached within just a few years.

Job training for young people and long-term unemployed, to get them into work in areas of specific skill shortages, will likely form the centrepiece of the budget, replacing the significantly undersubscribed JobMaker hiring credit.

Tax rebates of $1080 for people earning up to $90,000, to be claimed at tax time next July, are also expected.

There will be $18bn for aged care services, $350m for women’s health and more for domestic violence prevention as the government seeks to recover from a series of scandals this year.

Record health spending and a mental health package are also set to be on the agenda in what the treasurer has billed as a “pandemic budget”.

Defence is also expected to get a budget boost, as the nation deals with the increased chance of conflict in the IndoPacific region.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham gave an assurance to Australians that the budget would “deliver lower taxes”.

“We keep those tax burdens and cost burdens on Australians as low as possible, while seeking to grow the economy,” he said.

Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said the country could not afford a budget that was “another political patch and paint job”.

“This country needs to have something to show for the trillion dollars in debt that this Liberal-National government has racked up,” Mr Chalmers said.