Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's often said in this place—and I believe, accurately—that budgets are about priorities. This budget reflects this government's priority, which is to provide people in the community with assistance in relation to the cost-of-living pressures that they're experiencing. This government understands that people are expressing cost-of-living pressures across a range of fronts. I understand that as a local member who hears about these concerns every day.

The centrepiece of our measures to deal with cost-of-living pressures is the set of tax cuts that will benefit every single taxpayer in the country. If you look at somebody on $45,000, the amended tax cuts, as taken to the parliament through this budget, will give an $800 benefit, compared to what had previously been a zero benefit. If you look at somebody on the average income of just over $70,000, they will benefit by $1,500 through our tax cuts, which is more than $800 greater than the tax cuts that would have been the case. Eighty-seven per cent of taxpayers in my electorate will be better off, and they need this assistance.

Another major benefit that this budget provides is $300 to all households for their energy bills. But there are many, many other elements as well, which I won't have time to run through. There's fee-free TAFE and cheaper medicines. Over $1.8 million has already gone through cheaper medicines to people in my electorate. Then there are HECS debt benefits, which will benefit more than 25,000 people in my electorate. So there are many measures that will provide people with cost-of-living relief.

But budgets aren't just about priorities. Budgets are about delivering priorities in a way that is responsible and sustainable, and that's what this budget does, building on two previous budgets in the same vein. If we look at the trajectory of inflation over the last two years, we inherited inflation with a six in front of it, and it was inflation that was rising. Inflation in monthly terms peaked at a level just above eight per cent, but since then, since late 2022, it has been tracking steadily down and now has a three in front of it. So inflation has come down materially, and that is helping the people in my electorate and right around the country.

Importantly, while the reduction in inflation has been achieved, we have seen a strong labour market. Unemployment has remained lower than many had feared, and that is absolutely critical for maintaining the welfare of households. But all that we have achieved, all the cost-of-living benefits that I outlined earlier, is being achieved in the context of a very strong budget position. We have delivered a second budget surplus in a row, $9.3 billion. It's the first time in almost two decades that consecutive surpluses have been delivered. Our responsible economic management has seen the budget position improve by a forecast $215 billion over the six years to 2027-28 compared to the time of the election.

This is serious structural reform being achieved at the same time that we are delivering much needed cost-of-living relief. It comes through in practical ways that households understand. There's going to be an $80 billion reduction in debt payments from the Commonwealth over the next 10 years. These are dollars that can be devoted to our care economy and investing in the future that otherwise would have been devoted to one of the fastest areas of government expenditure under the previous government—a waste under the previous government. It's something that is being tamed under the serious, sensible and methodical economic management of this government. Savings have been achieved through careful budget work by all of our economic team and the government as a whole. Again, if you look at the achievements of this government, they stand in stark contrast to those opposite. There is $27.9 billion in savings and reprioritisations in just this budget alone, compared to zero dollars in the final budget of the previous government.

And finally, budgets aren't just about economically responsible management today; they're about a vision for the future. Again, this budget provides that in spades. It provides serious investment in our clean energy transition. It provides serious investment in supply chain resilience. It provides serious investment in green hydrogen, in moving up the value chain of critical minerals. So on all of these accounts—having the right priorities, being sensible and having a vision for the future—this budget ticks all of the boxes.