Budget 2023: Hang in there, Labor tells hard-hit Australians. But will voters keep faith?

‘The question is whether Australians, struggling right now, will thank Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese for the budget handouts.’ Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

This is a budget built to help Australians hang in there, to endure even though their belts are unbearably tight.

Labor hopes the relief is sufficient for voters to keep faith with them, that people will notice the loosening by just a notch or two rather than their financial pain, which won’t really ease for years yet. It’s about “seeing our people through the hard times” says the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.