Australian news and politics recap: Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers fourth Federal Budget
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Key Events
Trump hints at tariff relief for a ‘lot of countries’
US President Donald Trump says he may give a “lot of countries” breaks on tariffs and that he plans to announce more tariffs on cars in the next few days.
“We’ll be announcing some additional tariffs over the next few days, having to do with automobiles, cars, and having also to do with lumber down the road - lumber and chips,” Mr Trump said during a press conference announcing Hyundai’s plan to build a plant in Louisiana.
He said earlier on Monday that he will in the very near future announce tariffs on cars, aluminium and pharmaceuticals.
While speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Trump said the United States would need all those products if there were problems including wars.
“We’ve been ripped off by every country,” Mr Trump said as he presided over a meeting of his cabinet.
Taylor accuses Labor of slamming household budgets for ‘own spending habits’
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says the first test of Labor’s fourth Budget, due to be delivered tonight, will be to restore Australia’s standards of living.
“The first test for this Budget is to restore our standard of living quickly and get back on the pathway to prosperity for Australians that we’ve been used to in this country,” he said in Canberra on Tuesday.
“This is a Government that is grabbing from household budgets to support its own spending habits.
“Unfortunately, (I) expect we will see more of that in a budget tonight.”
Despite soaring national debt, a cash splash on cost of living relief is expected for millions of struggling Australians in today’s Budget.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday argued the Labor government had “made progress” on strengthening the economy but admitted there’s “more work to do”.
Budget ‘will be a platform for prosperity in a new world of uncertainty’
“We’ve helped engineer the biggest ever improvement in the Budget in a single term in dollar terms,” Dr Chalmers says.
“A $207 billion improvement in the Budget.
“We’ve delivered two surpluses. We’ve shrunk the deficit for this year. We’ve engineered that $207 billion improvement.
“That means less debt and less debt interest at the same time, so that we can make room to strengthen Medicare and help with the cost of living and build Australia’s future.
“We do know that there’s more work to do because people are still under pressure and the global outlook is uncertain and it is challenging.
“So the Budget tonight will be a platform for prosperity ina new world of uncertainty.”
Chalmers says Budget in ‘much better condition’ since Labor elected
“We’ve made a lot of progress together in our economy,” Dr Chalmers said on ABC.
“But we know there’s more work to do because people are under pressure and the global economic environment is so uncertain.
“But in this context and in this global economic environment, we’ve got inflation down, real wages and incomes are up, unemployment is very low.
“Interest rates have started to come down. We’ve got the debt down and growth is rebounding slowly in our economy as well.
“So we have made a lot of progress together and the Budget is about building on that progress together as well.
“Our Budget and our economy are both now in much better condition than we found them three years ago.”
Chalmers reveals Labor’s ‘economic plan’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has arrived at Parliament ahead of delivering The Budget on Tuesday evening.
“Tonight’s Budget will be a responsible Budget,” Dr Chalmers told ABC.
“It will help with the cost of living, strengthen Medicare and build Australia’s future.
“We know that cost of living is front of mind for most Australians and it will be absolutely front and centre tonight in our Budget.
“Our economic plan is all about ensuring more Australians are working, earning more and keeping more of what they earn and that’s the motivation behind the cost-of-living help that people will see in tonight’s Budget.
“The Budget is about strengthening Medicare and the election will be an opportunity to secure it for the future.”
What you need to know about the Budget today
For six hours today, much of Australia’s media will be locked down and essentially shut off from the outside world when they’re given strictly embargoed budget papers.
No mobile phones or smart watches are permitted inside the “budget lock up”, and laptops must be disconnected from the internet.
Before Jim Chalmers gets to his feet at 7.30pm, journalists will pore over hundreds of pages of documents and pepper departmental officials with questions as they wait for the Treasurer and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher to walk through their bureau.
Given that the Government had not been planning on handing down a Budget until ex-tropical cyclone Alfred disrupted plans for an April 12 election, today’s Budget isn’t expected to tell us much that we don’t already know.
Debt nudges $1 trillion as Budget returns to deficit
Australia will hit a record level of debt when the Government unveils a Federal Budget that shows a structural worsening in the bottom line.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers spruiked the Government’s “responsible economic management” for limiting gross debt to $940 billion in 2024/25 as he prepares to unveil the Budget on Tuesday night.
While that’s a record for the Commonwealth and up from the $906.9 billion figure in 2023/24, it’s $177 billion lower than it was projected to be in a fiscal update before the last election in 2022.
That means taxpayers will avoid having to fork out $60 billion in interest costs over the 11 years to 2032/33, despite borrowing costs rising since the last election.
“We’re paying down Liberal debt and the Budget will show that’s saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars,” Dr Chalmers said.
“In dollar terms, Labor’s responsible economic management has delivered the biggest budget turnaround in a parliamentary term in history.”
The Government points to $95 billion in savings across its four budgets as proof it is responsible for the turnaround in the bottom line.
