Treasurer Jim Chalmers is preparing to hand down his fourth and possibly his last federal budget tonight.
Among the already announced inclusions are $150 energy rebate, a cap to PBS medicines and a 20 per cent reduction to student debts.
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ACTU president Michelle O’Neill is hoping the calls for another wage rise are heard.
“We know that with Donald Trump and the world economy, there’s a lot of pressure. We wanna make sure that there’s government support to see jobs, not just be protected here in Australia, but grow,” O’Neill said.
We’re being warned not to expect many surprises with the budget set to return a deficit, and a focus on trying to help the economy turn a corner.
Cost of living will be front and centre, and is anticipated to include more spending on Medicare, bulk billing and child care.
Commitments so far
The largest commitment so far is an $8.5 million promise to increase bulk billing incentives.
Chalmers will also announce total government gross debt is expected to peak at 37 per cent of GDP in coming years.
From July 1, all households and a million small businesses will have $150 cut from their power bills.
An additional $850 million over four years will go into housing, with most to be put towards income gaps.
The budget will be handed down tonight at 7.30 AEDT time. The Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to give his budget reply speech on Thursday.
Gas reservation schemes
Both parties say they’re working on gas reservation schemes which could force gas exporters to reserve energy supplies for Australia. This is proposed as another way to drive down energy prices and in turn our power bills.
Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie’s weighed in yesterday, saying the government needs to address the root cause.
“You have to ask why we have this much gas we’re exporting and why we’re not getting our gas cheaper,” Lambie said.
Lambie said handing out money in the form of energy rebates was “not the answer”.
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