TREASURER, Jim Chalmers has delivered his third Budget and second surplus since coming to office in 2022 with the cost-of-living crisis and getting inflation down front and centre of his rhetoric on Tuesday night.

He said they were delicately operating the treasury levers in a global environment that was “fragile and fraught”.

However, oddly, every single household, regardless of wealth, will reap the benefit of a $300 rebate in the form of quarterly $75 reductions on power bills.

The decision to include even well-off households and those with multiple residences has been met with much conjecture.

Mr Chalmers attempted to justify it saying there were financial pressures up and down the wealth scale on households and that it was basically just administratively easier to include everyone rather than on eligibility.

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) was critical of the rebate rollout and of the fact that it would be the only additional cash support the majority of people on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance would receive.

“Extending the (energy rebate) to everyone – regardless of income – is extraordinarily wasteful. It does not target support to people most in need,” they said.

ACOSS stated the government had correctly identified the serious fiscal challenges; a slowing economy, rising unemployment, falling spending power, a housing crisis and a climate crisis.

They were pleased to see there was some relief for renters, albeit a very modest increase worth up to $9 a week for a single person, as well as additional investment in key services including homelessness, family violence prevention legal services and emergency relief.

Mr Chalmers also espoused the virtues of the Stage 3 tax cuts effective from July 1, that we already knew about but again, that which includes the wealthiest people in the country.

All Australian taxpayers who earn above the tax-free threshold, which is set at $18,200, will receive a tax cut.

What was new in the Budget was the treasurer’s signature $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.

This fund is designed to fund the development of new energy technologies which the government said was key to injecting economic stimulus across regional Australia and to invigorate regions transitioning away from fossil fuel dependency.

Regional Australia Institute (RAI) chief executive, Liz Ritchie said the Budget painted a picture of regional Australia’s new leading role in the nation’s future prosperity, sustainability and as a world leader in renewable energy technologies.

“The signature $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to develop new energy technologies is the key to injecting huge economic stimulus across regional Australia and to invigorate regions transitioning away from fossil fuel dependency,” Ms Ritchie said.

 “This hallmark policy is underpinned by a significant suite of skills packages which will be vital in our global race to transition to a net zero nation.

“We welcome the significant investment of over $200 million across the decade for the Energy Industry Jobs Plan, and the expansion of the New Energy Apprenticeship Programs and Regional Workforce Transition Plans. We look forward to learning more about the regional application of these programs.

However, The Nationals leader, David Littleproud was scathing of the lack of focus on regional Australia in its Budget.

He said the government cut regional infrastructure projects and failed to provide new money for regional programs, while refusing to fix its self-made cost-of-living crisis.

“The prime minister said when he was elected two years ago, ‘no one would be held back, no one would be left behind’, but that’s only if you live in a capital city,” Mr Littleproud said.

“This year’s Budget has demonstrated again that not only has regional Australia had critical infrastructure ripped away, but will also bear the cost of higher mortgages, higher energy bills and higher food prices.

“Labor spent $1.6 billion less on road and rail projects this year than it promised just five months ago in its Mid-Year Economic Fiscal Outlook.”

Mr Littleproud said the government could find money for 36,000 Canberra bureaucrats but couldn’t spend money to even fill in a few potholes, let alone build new roads for the regions.

Further, he said the $300 energy rebate was an admission that the government’s energy policy had failed and that they were covering over the cracks with taxpayers’ money, to politically defer the impact of higher energy prices until after the election.

He was also scathing of the government’s intention to press ahead with its new ‘fresh food tax’, the biosecurity protection levy.

Mr Littleproud said food costs would continue to climb because the government was refusing to reinstate the AgVisa, instead introducing just $1 million in its Budget for a ‘skilled agricultural work liaison pilot’ to attract graduates to work in agriculture.

He said there were no plans to address regional Australia’s housing crisis, despite bringing in nearly 1.7 million new migrants over the next five years.

“Regional Australia has been betrayed in Labor’s Budget,” he said.

“Sadly, it is clear Labor has no plan to fix its cost-of-living crisis and regional families will feel the pain in their wallets.”

The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) also said the Budget failed the regions by not addressing the ongoing health care inequity between rural and urban Australia.

NRHA chairperson, Nicole O’Reilly, said the Budget fell short of expectations.

“It is disheartening to observe the government’s lack of responsiveness to rural voices and its failure to commit to comprehensive reforms that would offer sustainable and long-term benefits for rural communities,” she said.

The NRHA said, the further an Australian lives from an urban centre, the lower their life expectancy. They are also twice as likely to die from preventable illness.

They also pointed to further disparities in health outcomes:

Rural men are 2.5 times and women 2.8 times more likely to die from potentially avoidable causes than those in urban areas.

Many rural people have no access to primary healthcare services within an hour’s drive from their home.

They use Medicare up to 50 per cent less than those in cities, showing that people rather not make the long journey or wait long hours to access health care somewhere else.

As a result, the burden of disease in remote areas is 1.4 times than that of major cities.

“There is much more to be done to address the inequity in health care outcomes for rural and remote Australians,” Ms O’Reilly said.

BUDGET IN REPLY

In his budget reply - which sounded like a pre-election speech - as anticipated, Opposition leader, Peter Dutton focussed on the government’s inability to address the cost-of-living crisis and attacked the government on high migration numbers.

“My priority is restoring the dream of home ownership,” he said.

Older Australians would be allowed to earn more without impacting their pension, industrial relations reforms would be wound back, and an instant asset write-off would be increased by $10,000 up to $30,000 for small businesses.

“The treasurer will give you a $300 rebate, but he knows full well that your annual electricity bills have increased by up to $1000 since Labor formed government,” Mr Dutton said.

“The government has brought in an additional 923,000 migrants in just two years but on the data available has only built 265,000 homes.”

Wannon MP, Dan Tehan said the budget was another cost-of-living con job.

“Labor’s Budget confirms that Australians are poorer under Labor,” he said.

“In this Budget, Labor has added $315 billion of new spending, at a time when we need restraint. That’s $30,000 of extra spending for every Australian household.”

“Labor has fuelled the housing and rental crisis with unprecedented immigration at a time when housing approvals are at an 11-year low.

“Migration that will now see 1.67 million new migrants coming to Australia over five years.

“The only positives on offer for Wannon in this Budget are $150 million to upgrade the Maroona to Portland rail line and $12 million for the Bridgewater Road and Portland Ring Road intersection.

“Sadly, there’s no extra funding for our roads, especially the Princes, Henty, Hamilton and Western Highways. And there’s no extra funding for our hospitals.”