It’s been dubbed a “solid and sensible” federal budget, but Australians hoping for a sugar hit to their bank accounts are going to be severely underwhelmed.
With inflation roaring, rising interest rates and a cost of living crisis, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it was his responsibility to hand down a budget that didn’t contribute to the government’s forecast trillion dollars of debt.
Despite this – as there always are – some Australians are going to be better off than others from this budget. Here are the winners and losers from the government’s crack down on expenses:
New families score upgrades to parental leave, childcare subsidies
New families and prospective parents are big winners in Labor’s first federal budget in nearly a decade, with major boosts to parental leave and childcare.
Paid parental leave will be expanded by six weeks through to 2026-27, with two more weeks being added in each financial year – from 20 in 2023-24 to 26 in 2023-27.
Both parents will be able to share the leave, and from July 2023, they can even split it day-by-day.
Radical plan designed to cool Australia’s housing affordability crisis
A landmark agreement between every level of government will aim to tackle Australia’s housing affordability crisis by building one million new homes over five years.
Called the National Housing Accord, the agreement is designed to incentivise the construction of cheap housing in popular regions and will start from 2024.
The Albanese government will contribute $350 million to the scheme, promising to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024.
