Australian news and politics recap: Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers fourth Federal Budget

Mr Chalmers said over the next decade, nine out of 10 new jobs would require post secondary qualifications, almost half from vocational training.

He said the government had introduced legislation to lock in 100,000 free TAFE places annually from 2027 and $1.6 billion to fund these places until 2035 “to make it easier for Australians to train, retrain and upskill.”

Families will be entitled to at least three days a week of subsidised early childhood education and care.

“We are also building more child care centres in areas of need, investing $5 billion to expand access across the country and lift the wages of early educators, and charting a path to universal early education and care, regardless of a child’s background or no matter where they live,” Mr Chalmers said.

Other highlights of the housing plan include:

• Doubling incentive payments for eligible apprentices to get up to $10,000 if they train in the housing construction sector.
• Expansion of the Help to Buy Scheme and an update to property price and income caps so more first home buyers are eligible for the scheme
• Banning foreign investors from buying established homes and cracking down on foreign land banking.

Mr Chalmers said the Government’s $33 billion housing plan will see 1.2 million new homes built before the decade is out.

“This includes $54 million to accelerate the uptake of modern methods of housing construction, which is all about building more homes more quickly.

“It supports our work to cut red tape and reduce financial barriers to more efficient construction methods.

“The first two rounds of the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund are helping to build about 18,000 social and affordable homes for those who need them most, and lifting the cap on Housing Australia’s financial liabilities to$26 billion also helps in this regard.”

Labor has resisted requests from the Trump Administration and a concerted push from experts to rapidly bolster defence spending in the next few years, despite acknowledging the world is now a “more dangerous place”.

Tuesday’s Budget confirms the Government will spend $56 billion in the upcoming year on defence, and $305b over the entire forward estimates.

Read the full story ​​here​​.

The Government has announced modest tax cuts for every Australian in a pre-Election Budget focused on assuaging voters with cost-of-living relief at a time of rising global uncertainty.

But Treasurer Jim Chalmers also handed down books that have entered the red with a $42.1b deficit and debt projected to exceed $1 trillion in the 2025-26 financial year.

On the eve of the Federal Election, the Government will be counting on voters overlooking forecasts of a decade of deficits by adding $17b in tax cuts to already announced sweeteners that include $1.8b in energy bill relief, a beefy 8.5b fund to expand Medicare bulk-billing and more affordable housing.

The plan, against a backdrop of global turmoil from ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Europe, slow growth in China, and a potentially turbulent trade tariff war, will see every Australian taxpayer receive two rounds of tax cuts on top of relief already being rolled out since July 2024.

According to Treasury figures, the tax cuts will not kick in until next year when every Australian taxpayer, regardless of income, will receive a cash boost of up to $268 in 2026-27, followed by up to $538 in 2027-28 – all relative to 2024-25 tax settings.

The combined relief is expected to deliver an average cut of $2,458 in 2027-28, which translates to around $50 per week.

“These additional tax cuts are modest but will make a difference,” said Dr Chalmers.

“We do understand there is always appetite for more tax relief,” he said, while adding the Government had to operate with “substantial fiscal restraint.”

Read the full Budget wrap here.

Mr Chalmers said $644 million had been allocated to build on the 87 urgent care clinics already opened.

“Four in every five Australians will live within a 20 minute drive of an urgent care clinic as a consequence - opening early, closing late, available on weekends, taking pressure off hospitals and emergency departments.”

Women’s health is also in line for a boost with $793 million set aside to help women “save on contraception, access more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics and receive better support through menopause because, for our government, women’s health is not a boutique issue or a question of special interest, it is a national priority.”

A record $8.5 billion has been set aside to lift bulk-billing rates and build the health workforce.

“Because of this investment, nine out of 10 GP visits should be fully bulk-billed by the end of the decade,” Mr Chalmers said.

“More bulk-billing will mean less pressure on families.

“These incentives mean there will be around 4800 fully bulk-billing practices around the country, making it easier to see a doctor and get the care that you need. And saving patients around $860 million a year.”

It was the Budget we weren’t supposed to have.

But nevertheless, Jim Chalmers claims to have delivered a “responsible” and measured set of books to help ease the cost-of-living in his fourth Budget.

Against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, the Treasurer insists the Australian economy is turning a corner and that “the worst is behind us”.

Read the five-minute guide to what the Budget contains ​here​.

As previously announced, Mr Chalmers confirmed the maximum price for a PBS script will be slashed from $31.60 to $25.

Pensioners and concession card holders will still pay $7.70 a script.

“We are strengthening the PBS because Australians need us to, not weakening it because American multinationals want us to,” Mr Chalmers said.