Not all Australians will benefit from the energy relief measures within the $14.6 billion cost-of-living package at the heart of Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ second budget.
The $1.5 billion in energy relief, which will benefit more than million households and small businesses, is targeted to Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders, pensioners and those on income support which includes Family Tax Benefit (FTB) A and B.
However, as news.com.au revealed, thousands of Australians are set to miss out on the payment of up to $500 due to an income threshold cut-off.
Included in that are single workers who are not eligible for income support and families with one child and a combined income of more than $108,892 on FTB Part A.
The FTB then varies depending on the number of children a family has. The income threshold for families with two children is $117,944.
For three children, families can have a combined income of $140,319.
The assistance will also vary based on the states, as the Labor government has negotiated eight different energy agreements with the different jurisdictions.
Mr Chalmers has flagged that the suite of measures included in the package, which will be announced on Tuesday night, will not add to inflationary pressures.
The spending will be largely offset by savings of $17.8 billion, which will be announced by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher on Monday.
The $14.6 billion package will also be funded in part by a change to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, which dictates how much oil and gas companies pay on their offshore liquefied natural gas projects over the next four years.
Currently, oil and gas companies are able to fully deduct their project costs against income, but from July 1 2023 this will be capped at 90 per cent.
The change is expected to bring in a $2.4 billion increase over the forward estimates.
Thousands more Australians are also set to benefit from a broadening of the JobSeeker welfare payment following backlash to reports that only those aged over 55 would receive an increase.
Sky News Australia Political Editor Andrew Clennell on Sunday revealed the expenditure review committee had agreed to broaden the welfare boost, which could represent “up to $40 a fortnight”.
Mr Chalmers all but confirmed welfare recipients across the board would benefit.
“It will be a much broader package than what has been speculated on so far and it will help the most vulnerable people,” the Treasurer told Sky News Australia’s Kieran Gilbert on Sunday Agenda.
“This will be a responsible budget for Australians who are doing it tough and central to that, probably the centre piece of the budget, will be a cost-of-living package which is broader than what has been speculated on, which prioritises the most vulnerable people and which applies to more than one age cohort.”
Following another Reserve Bank cash rate increase last week, Mr Chalmers hinted that those are most vulnerable will be prioritised by the Labor government.
“We know and we acknowledge that Australians are doing it tough,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
“There will be a cost-of-living package in the budget and it will prioritise the most vulnerable Australians.
“What we will try and do there is make sure that the relief we provide will be meaningful but won’t add substantially to this inflation problem that we have got in our economy.”
The government is expected to post Australia’s first budget surplus in 15 years, and Labor’s first since 1989.
The last time a budget surplus was posted was in 2007, which the Coalition handed down in the last year of John Howard’s prime ministership just before the Global Financial Crisis.
The government has benefitted from a revenue windfall which could deliver a $101 billion reduction in future budget deficits.
The surging tax revenue from commodities and a growing number of people in work have helped fuel a $36.9 billion turnaround from the deficit predicted in Labor’s October budget.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiyQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9zb21lLWF1c3RyYWxpYW5zLXRvLW1pc3Mtb3V0LW9uLWdvdmVybm1lbnRzLTUwMC1lbmVyZ3ktcmVsaWVmLXBhY2thZ2UtYWhlYWQtb2YtamltLWNoYWxtZXJzLWZlZGVyYWwtYnVkZ2V0L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvYmQ5MTgwZTk0NTJmZDg2Mzc0MTMzYmM3YjA3YjM2ZGXSAQA?oc=5
2023-05-08 00:22:30Z
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