Jim Chalmers promises ‘back-to-back’ rent assistance increase in federal budget

call the treasurer thank you Mr Speaker I present the appropriation bill number 1 2024-25 and the explanatory memorandum and I call the Clark first reading a bill for an act to appropriate money out of the Consolidated Revenue fund for expenditure for a bill for an act to appropriate money out of the Consolidated Revenue fund for the ordinary annual Services of the government and for related purposes and I call the treasurer thank you speaker I move that the bill be now read a second time and on this n aw land I acknowledge all of the First Nations people of this country and the custodians customs and cultures which guide and Inspire us Mr Speaker this is a budget for the here and now and it's a budget for the decades to come it's a responsible budget that helps people under pressure today and invests in the promise and potential of the more prosperous future that we can make together our main priorities are helping with the cost of living building more homes for Australians investing in a future made in Australia and the skills and universities will need to make it a reality strengthening Medicare and the care economy and responsible economic management which is set to produce another Surplus and help fight inflation speaker this government and this budget delivers for every Australian a tax cut for every taxpayer wages growing in every industry a better deal for every working parent a fair AO at every checkout new help with energy bills for every household and for small business stronger Medicare in every Community more homes in every state and territory more opportunities in every ta and University a dignified retirement for older Australians energy and Industry policies that help bring the jobs of the future to every corner of our country an economic plan where growth and opportunity go together a government and a budget for every Australian this budget is framed in fraught and fragile Global conditions the world economy is resilient in Parts but subdued overall inflation is lingering in North America growth is slowing in China and in Europe tensions have escalated in the Middle East and they persist in Ukraine Global Supply chains are fragmenting this uncertainty combines with cost of living pressures and higher interest rates to slow our economy with growth forecast to be just 1 and 3/4% this financial year and 2% next slower growth means a softer labor market with unemployment expected to rise slightly to 4 a half% next year even as we create tens of thousands of new jobs I want Australians to know that despite everything coming at us we are among the best placed economies to manage these uncertainties and maximize our opportunities we have an envied combination of moderating inflation record new jobs near record participation real wages growth the lowest ever gender pay Gap and expanding business investment annual inflation has more than hared from its peak in 2022 and it's now lower than anticipated in the midyear update but we know that people are still under the pump that's why we designed our cost of living policies to ease these pressures and take another 3/4 of a percentage point off inflation this year and half a percentage Point next year treasury's now forecasting that inflation could return to Target earlier perhaps even by the end of this year at the same time around 780,000 jobs have been created under this government a record for any first term this is stronger jobs growth than in any major Advanced economy real wages are growing again for the first time in almost 3 years business investment is now expected to record its longest annual expansion since the mining boom and we're addressing the pressures caused by population growth with net overseas migration next year now expected to be half what it was last year speaker the number one priority of this government and this budget is helping Australians with the cost of living responsible relief that eases pressure on people and directly reduces inflation the comprehensive cost of living plan in this budget delivers a tax cut for every taxpayer provides new power bill relief for people and small businesses it freezes the cost of medicines it makes student loans sparer it boosts competition in our economy so families and farmers get a fairer deal and it supports renters as well our new tax cuts for Middle Australia are the biggest part of the cost of living relief in this budget from July 1 all 13.6 million taxpayers will get a tax cut and for 84% of taxpayers and 90% of taxpaying women a bigger tax cut than they would have under the previous government this is about rewarding the hard work of our nurses and teachers and truckies and tradies and the 2.9 Million people earning $45,000 a year or less who would have received nothing the average benefit is 1 $1,888 a year which is $36 a week our tax cuts are better for families and communities women and young people they are better for business and they are better for the economy speaker in 2022 Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered the biggest shock to Global Energy prices since the 1970s we know Australian families and businesses have felt this pain and that's why we've stepped in to help elect electricity prices would have risen 15% in the last year if not for our efforts instead they Rose an average of 2% and tonight I assure Australians that more help is on the way this budget delivers $3.5 billion in new Energy bill relief for everyone just as every Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut every Australian household will get energy price relief from July 1 Australians will receive an energy rebate of $300 and 1 million small businesses will get a little bit more the ABS has shown how cutting energy bills directly Cuts inflation too keeping the lights on for families and businesses and keeping downward pressure on inflation Mr Speaker labor governments make Medicare stronger and we make medicines cheaper we're providing up to $3 billion for cheaper medicines and the Community Pharmacy that distribute them and we are freezing the maximum cost of PBS prescriptions for everyone this year and next year no one will pay more than $3160 but six out of 10 PBS scripts go to pensioners and Concession card holders and we will freeze the cost of their medicines for 5 years meaning no pensioner no concession card holder will pay more than $7.70 for the medicine that they need we're also investing $3.4 billion to add life-changing and life-saving medicines to the PBS cutting the cost of one breast cancer treatment from around $100,000 to $3160 Mr Speaker going to University can be a life-changing opportunity for 35 years now our student loan system has supported millions of people who study hard to chase their dream but spikes in inflation have exposed a flaw in this system and put young people under unfair pressure we are fixing that and we're changing that so that it won't happen again we're capping indexation of student loans to either the Consumer Price Index or the wage price index whichever is lower and backdating it to the middle of 2023 will cut indexation from last year in half it will wipe $3 billion in student debt for over 3 million Australians and save the average person around $1,200 speaker we know that Australians are feeling the pinch at the checkout that's why we empowered the competition Watchdog to hold supermarkets accountable that's why we're taking steps to make the food and grocery code mandatory and making our economy more competitive across the board by strengthening the merges reg and abolishing nuisance tariffs and reducing compliance costs for business because more comp competition means more choices means lower prices and better services and better jobs now Rising rents Mr Speaker are another big part of the inflation Challenge and we're supporting renters who need our help we are providing $19 billion to increase the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by a further 10% this is on top of the 15% increase delivered in our last budget it's the first back-to-back increase to Commonwealth rent assistance in more than 30 years and and more much needed help for young people and for Renters of all ages doing it tough so we're easing the cost of living and we are building more homes for Australians in the 5 years from this July we aim to build 1.2 million of them our goal is ambitious but it's achievable if we all work together and if we all do our bit $6.2 billion in new Investments mean our $ 32 billion homes for Australia plant will clear local infrastructure bottlenecks provide more housing for students fund more social and affordable housing and we'll also deliver better transport for better access to suburbs and cities and regions Mr Speaker more homes means more affordable homes and a better deal for buyers Builders and renters alike the current housing pipeline is backed up we've already alloc at $3.5 billion to address bottlenecks and a slash red tape and this budget includes another $1 billion to help States and territories build more housing sooner and we're providing $89 million for 20,000 additional fee-free ta and vet and Vocational places to train more construction workers to do the work that we will need