Jim Chalmers has announced a $5.7bn investment in Medicare and an increase in jobseeker and commonwealth rent assistance for all ages as the centrepieces of Labor’s first full-year budget aimed at helping Australians “under the pump”.
In his speech on Tuesday evening promising to “[see] people through the hard times – and [set] our country up for a better future”, the treasurer claimed the cost-of-living relief measures in the 2023-24 budget would shave 0.75% off inflation.
