The government warns of tough times ahead for families after delivering its first budget, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers saying inflation "will get worse before it gets better."
Look back on all the budget reaction and analysis in our blog.
Key events
Live updates
By Jessica Riga
It's time to wrap up our live blog coverage
Thanks for joining our live coverage of the federal budget! It's been great to have your company.
Here's a quick recap of today's events following last night's budget:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he doesn't think Australia will follow other countries into a recession
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton labelled Labor's budget "grim" and says he "worries for those families who are already struggling with increased mortgage payments"
- Disability advocates say the NDIS has been used a "political football" for years and says it must be "sustainable for generations"
- Meanwhile, consumer prices jumped 1.8 per cent in the three months to September 30, with new housing and gas prices leading the way
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers said inflation is "the dragon we need to slay" but "it will get worse before it gets better"
Here are your key reads if you want to catch up on any of today's news:
- Albanese flags NDIS spending crackdown as federal budget forecasts cost blowout
-
PM signals possible market intervention as budget forecasts surging electricity prices
- Analysis by business editor Ian Verrender: The budget is in a mess and 'tax needs to be part of the conversation' … soon
- Analysis by Patricia Karvelas:The old budget paradigm has been bulldozed — women's policies are now in the main game
- Analysis by Stan Grant: The dirty secret hidden in plain sight at the centre of the budget
You can also catch up on all the news, analysis and reaction on ABC iview.
Alrighty, we'll leave things here. See you next time!
By Tom Williams
Expert says budget moves away from 'blokier budgets of recent years'
Doctor Blair Williams, a lecturer in Politics & International Relations at Monash University, says the October 2022 budget "marks a departure from the 'blokier' budgets of recent years, centring on gender equality and the care economy rather than high-vis and hard hats".
Here are some more of her comments:
"While the Women's Budget Statement made a return in 2021 under the previous Coalition government after a long absence since 2013, this inaugural budget from the Albanese Labor government significantly mainstreams gender equality with a raft of gender-responsive measures.
"Investment in women's safety, economic equality, and health and wellbeing signals the fulfilment of a campaign promise. At the same time, however, many of these measures — like the reduction in childcare fees — will not come into force until mid-2023 at the earliest, with the full extension of the paid parental leave scheme delayed until 2026.
"This budget is a good start, but many will continue to struggle while they wait for the rollout of these policies.
"Additionally, while this budget has notably centred support for women, most of this support will be directed to those in secure employment while the unemployed and low socioeconomic-status (SES) households have been largely overlooked."
By Jessica Riga
'Stop penalising NSW': Dominic Perrottet critcises federal budget
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Deputy Premier Paul Toole has criticised the Albanese government's budget.
By Tom Williams
The cost of living crisis has apparently hit the North Pole
Can someone please let the children know that Santa’s Workshop has been severely affected by the cost of living crisis and that there may be less presents under the tree this year, thank you.
- Mrs Claus, North Pole
Thanks for writing in, Mrs Claus!
I imagine this is a pretty busy time of year for you, so thanks for joining us.
By Tom Williams
The treasurer says he misheard a question during his Press Club speech
Speaking now during Question Time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he "misheard" a question he was asked about electricity prices during his speech at the National Press Club earlier today.
Here's what Liberal MP Angus Taylor asked the treasurer in parliament:
A short time ago, the treasurer was asked whether Australians can expect $275 off their power bills. He said, "Yes, it's in the budget."
Page 57 of the budget says prices will increase by 20% this year and 30% next year. What page refers to a reduction of $275?
Here's part of how Chalmers responded.
It does give me the opportunity to explain to the house and explain to the relevant journalist who asked me the question, that I misheard the question, at the National Press Club.
Chalmers said he rang the journalist who asked the question "straight after" the Press Club speech to explain that he thought he'd been asked a different question.
By Tom Williams
Question Time is happening now
Following the treasurer's speech at the National Press Club, both sides of politics are now taking part in Question Time at Parliament House.
Many aspects of the budget are being discussed, and you can tune in via the stream at the top of this page.
By Tom Williams
Analysis: Labor inherited a federal budget on a highway to hell
In his analysis, business editor Ian Verrender — never shy of an AC/DC reference — says Labor inherited a dire federal budget and it's "a taxing time to get it back in black".
Here are some of his thoughts:
The new treasurer's post-budget speech was littered with references to new beginnings. But the numbers he presented harked back to another AC/DC hit from an earlier era: Highway to Hell.
... Usually, treasurers keep some little surprise up their sleeves. A cash hand-out, a little sweetener to keep the punters happy.
Not last night.
Despite the pain being felt across the nation by households labouring under the extraordinary combination of rapidly increasing prices for almost everything, from mortgages to rents and food and fuel, there was nothing.
It was a wise decision. Difficult as it must have been, the new treasurer held back, knowing that any cash splash would only have prompted the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates further and faster than they otherwise would have.
You can keep reading here:
By Tom Williams
The peak body for Australian veterinarians says it is 'disappointed' by the budget
The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) says it is "disappointed" that its proposal to wipe the HECS debts of veterinary graduates in rural areas wasn't included in the budget.
AVA President Dr Bronwyn Orr said that the association realised it was "not entirely suprising given the budgetary pressures on the federal government".
"The veterinary profession plays a critically important role in ensuring that commercial farms and their livestock remain healthy," she said.
"But fewer veterinary graduates are moving to the regions to fill these important roles, putting increasing pressure on the agricultural industry – a central pillar to Australia's economy."
By Jessica Riga
In pictures: Jim Chalmers speaks at the National Press Club
ABC camera operator Matt Roberts snapped these pictures a little earlier.
By Jessica Riga
To conclude, let's turn to those free TAFE places
We've made it to the last question! It's from Julie Hare from the Australian Financial Review.
Q: I'd like to speak to you about the robust and very buoyant jobs market. There are 20,000 new university places in the budget and 180,000 new free TAFE places. There is an established counter-cyclical trend in that the more buoyant the jobs market, the less likely people are to go to university or to TAFE. So I'm just wondering if there's going to be an oversupply of education and training places and where these people are going to come from especially to fill places for child care which you're going to need by next July?
"I wouldn't have thought there would be an over supplyof training," Chalmers says.
One of the big conclusions from the Jobs and Skills Summit we had here is that we haven't trained enough people for some of these opportunities.
The reality is the situation foremployers trying to find workers is so substantially challenging that wehave to find a way to act on all of those fronts simultaneously.
And with that, Jim Chalmers' address at the National Press Club comes to a close.
By Jessica Riga
Inflation is 'public enemy number one' but 'it will get worse before it gets better', Chalmers says
I missed the journalists name but this next question comes from SBS World News.
Q: A keen mantra of the election was - nobody held back and no-one left behind. Can you say to the Australian people, given the massive cost of living pressures they're facing which you have admitted can't all be addressed, that this budget does just that?
Jim Chalmers says "yeah, absolutely."
Because the most damaging thing for people on low and fixed incomes, their worst thing that could happen to people who are at risk of being left behind in this country is if we let inflation get out of control.
So we're not going to leave people behind to fend for themselves against this inflation threat which stalks our economy. It is public enemy number one, it is our highest priority, it's going to get worse before it gets better but it will get better.
By Tom Williams
Treasurer says the Nationals' claim that the budget leaves the regions behind is 'complete rubbish'
This question is from Amanda Copp at the Community Radio Network.
Q: The Nationals have accused this budget of leaving regional Australia behind. Are they right?
And the bulk of your budget commitments for regional Australia focus on infrastructure programs — I'm thinking roads and renewable projects — but how are you delivering better services for regional areas? I'm thinking specifically about access to doctors, healthcare and child care programs as well.
Here's part of the treasurer's response.
This line that the Nationals are running is complete rubbish. You know, there is a huge amount of investment in regional communities and a massive amount. 700 and something different investments in the regions including across some of the areas that you identify, but projects as well.
And all we have done in the budget is we have introduced a level of rigor and robustness to spending in regional communities.
... There's a lot of investment in the regions, projects and services, both sides of that equation, but what we have tried to do is we tried to work out, you know, where Barnaby Joyce has been travelling around writing comments on the back of coasters or issuing press releases, we have tried to say, "OK, is there a business case for this? Is there a level of rigor?"
And where there isn't, you know, we might have delayed some spending. And I think that's the right and responsible way to go about it.
The other thing I'd say about it is this: And it's not just in this area but really right across the board, you know, we are engaged with local governments and with state governments about how the Federal Government plays an active role in delivering projects and services in regional communities.
The October budget that we released yesterday had some necessary tidying up of some of those programs, long overdue, but it doesn't mean that there won't be new investments in regions in subsequent budgets as well and that's important.
By Jessica Riga
Onto the topic of housing
This next question comes Poppy Johnston from AAP.
Q: The Housing Accord sets up the architecture to ease housing shortage in the long-term, but do you think people need some housing relief with the stress they're feeling right now?
Here's part of Jim Chalmers' reply:
You're right that it takes a little while before it comes in — 2024 -but that's deliberate, too, becausewe have got labour shortages in the industry, we have got inflation when it comes to building materials, and there's an existing pipeline of work and one of the benefits of working so closely with the building and construction sector is because you understand the shape of that pipeline and so we want to start in 2024 when that pipeline is expected to trail away a little bit.
I know people would like more man that, I understand that genuinely, but that's an important part of the way that the budget works and that's how the budget is working right now.
By Tom Williams
The treasurer's five-word answer
This question is from Charles Croucher at Channel Nine.
Q: About 40 minutes ago you said you were going to have a serious go at being as up-front as you can be with Australians.
Given that and given there's probably a one word answer to this question — should Australians still expect that $275 off their power bills, particularly off pre-election prices?
Answer: Yep, it's in the budget.
"About four words!" says host Laura Tingle.
By Jessica Riga
Are we back in that situation of everything being on the table?
Our next question comes from Katina Curtis from The West Australian.
Q: In the difficult discussion that we're going to have over the next six or 18 months, are we back in that situation of everything being on the table that we were in perhaps five or six years ago? And harking back to that time, would you contemplate, for example, broadening the base and lifting the rate of the GST perhaps in exchange for the states doing more on the NDIS to ease the federal pressures?
"No, that's not our inclination," Jim Chalmers says.
And from time to time that gets put to us and we listen to that respectfully, occasionally that view puts by one or another state, depending on who the Premier is at the time.
But it's not a path we intend to go down.
By Tom Williams
Will rising power prices create more inflation than a rebate would?
This question is from Andrew Clennell at Sky News.
Q: It's been put to me that the Australian energy retailer has warned Governments that in the default market offer next year prices could rise as much as 50%.
So what I'm talking about is the 70% to 80% rise if you include the 20%, that your budget may have underestimated next year's rise by 20%.
Given that, wouldn't that have more of an effect on inflation than, say, a rebate to offset that? Given all the price points power bills go through.
And isn't it too late for a cap because of the contracts that have already been signed around electricity?
Here's part of the treasurer's answer:
First of all, I haven't seen that AER number but I think it is worth remembering that the numbers that Treasury put in yesterday's budget around anticipated increases in prices for electricity were a national average.
And so it is conceivable that in some parts of the market it's less than that, some parts of the market it's more than that, but I'm not familiar with that particular number. I don't think I have been briefed on that number.
But the numbers as they are in the budget are confronting enough.
By Jessica Riga
There's a new building coming to the Parliamentary Triangle and it sounds expensive. Will it go over budget?
Onto the next journalist! Now it's Karen Barlow's turn, she's from Canberra Times.
Q: The budget papers reveal a building — a sensitive building of national significance coming in the Parliamentary Triangle, the national security office precinct — 5,000 people to be moved in not very far from here and a price tag, I understand, with nine zeros on it. Considering ballooning costs of construction, cost blowouts in another building across the lake and a certain moth, the golden sun moth, how can taxpayers be assured that this unknown building will stay in budget?
Jim Chalmers says "we need to do this for all of the right reasons and we will and we'll try to deliver it as efficiently as we can."
First of all, we got to make sure that our infrastructure keeps up with our challenges and that's why we need to make sure that we have got world-class facilities for our National Security Agencies.
Obviously, we're aware of the history of some of these big projects and ... the focus that Katy and I have brought to some of these discussions and some of the other is to make sure we get value for money and we got a proper handle on the costs and but beyond that it's a really important investment that I support.
By Tom Williams
Should Australia increase taxes on oil companies?
This question is from the ABC's Andrew Probyn.
Q: Treasurer, the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax designed in the '80s has proven itself to be wholly inadequate to capture some of the wealth from this great nation. In your budget, despite the ginormous prices for oil and gas, it's going to be — going down, only about $2 billion.
Now, that well-known socialist Rishi Sunak earlier this year increased the windfall super — the windfall tax for oil and gas in Britain from 40% to 65 or thereabouts.
Is it about time for you to have a proper look at how much tax companies like Chevron is paying for effectively renting a resource that is owned by Australians?
Here's part of the treasurer's answer:
First of all, the tax taken by the PRRT goes up in the short -term, and I do genuinely understand that a lot of people would like to see it go up more, but in the budget numbers last night there was an increase in PRRT in the near-term.
But you're right, that it trails away after that because of the assumptions that we make about prices. But it has tracked up over the course of recent history when gas prices have been high.
The other thing to remember is that the broader company tax rate - tax take is substantially higher too, and some of the companies that we're talking about are part of that as well.
... Different countries make different decisions about how they go about this. Now, in our country, in our case, my predecessor, I think, in a welcome way, he did the right thing here, Josh Frydenberg.
He began an inquiry into the taxation of gas, PRRT, and that work there was some fruits of that work and then it was paused by Treasury when they were dealing with the most intense part of COVID and they have, or are about to, or have restarted some of that work and I'll obviously listen to the advice that I get from Treasury as they conclude that work. But it's not currently something that we're focused on.
By Jessica Riga
Chalmers pressed further on electricity and gas prices
The next question comes from Sarah Martin from The Guardian.
Q: In terms of the options available to the Federal Government, we already have a — as you mentioned with the DMO — effectively a price cap mechanism. What are the problems with how that is currently working? And if — if that is put in place to ensure that energy retailers don't go to the wall, what more can the Federal Government do or is it really going to be up to the states I'm to pursue reform in this area?
Jim Chalmers says "a lot of the regulatory powers are held by the states, and thats' just a fact."
A lot of the good work that's happened so far has been because Chris Bowen has taken a collaborative approach to working with his state counterparts and some of the other important areas.
And that will be the approach that we take going forward as well.
I'm not prepared to kind of elaborate on some of the mechanisms that are currently in place or the steps that we might contemplate beyond that.
By Tom Williams
Can the government slow electricity and gas prices this financial year?
This question comes from David Crowe at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Q: The budget papers show a 20% increase in electricity prices this financial year and a 20% increase in gas prices this financial year.
Obviously there is a consequence in later years but just focused on the immediate, is it now too late to stop that happening? Or do you actually have levers that can change those outcomes this financial year, 20% on each of those factors?
Here's part of the treasurer's answer:
I think one of the things that's been lost in this conversation about the first of those electricity price forecasts is that that is already flowing through and I know that you don't want a heap of, kind of, partisan reflections here, but what we're seeing now in that 20% is part of what Angus Taylor hid from the Australian people during the election campaign.
Some of you will recall he made a quite an unusual intervention to prevent the publication of the change to the default market offer and so this 20% that we're in right now, which is starting to show up in bills and starting to show up in figures, is actually part of that.
...You know, the 20% this year is not from now, it's over the course of this financial year and it's already begun. And then we got 30% next year and in gas it goes 20 and then 20.
What we tried to say about any steps that we could take in this area is we have taken a bunch of steps, you know, in terms of funding the regulators to do their work...
So we have done it — we have taken a number of important steps around energy and Chris Bowen and Madeleine King and others have done important work but we have more to do. But some of these price increases are already flowing.
