Month: May 2024

We know Australians are feeling under pressure. That’s why our budget is designed to deliver for every Australian, in every part of our economy and every part of our country.

There are tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer – not just some.

There is energy bill relief for every Australian household – not just some.

Australians will receive an energy rebate of $300 from July 1 – and one million small businesses will get $325. As well as getting power bills down, making housing costs cheaper by boosting Commonwealth Rent Assistance and providing debt relief for university students, we are also helping Australians get the accessible healthcare they need.

We are making Medicare stronger, and medicine cheaper, by freezing the cost of prescriptions.

Australians need affordable housing and we need to build more homes right across the country. Our Homes for Australia plan invests billions to do just that, and we’re boosting fee-free TAFE to train more tradies to build them.

We need to back Australian talent, hard work and creativity – making sure wages are growing – especially for those who do the crucial work of caring for our kids and older Australians.

This is a budget for every Australian, from a government working for all Australians. Inflation has been moderating and real wages are growing.

But Australians continue to feel financial pressure.

Our No.1 priority is giving Australians cost-of-living relief. 

Tuesday night’s budget provides responsible relief for households while reducing inflationary pressure in the economy.

Our actions are careful, deliberate and responsible – and because of that we’ve been able to forecast a second surplus of $9.3bn. Last year we turned a $78bn deficit that we inherited from Scott Morrison into a $22bn surplus.

While we’ve been razor-focused on the immediate needs of families, we also need to invest in the future. We need to build economic and energy security for Australia. We are working to set up the country for success over the longer term.

We need to secure a future made in Australia, with secure, well-paid jobs.

This is about Australia seizing a once-in-a-generation chance to become a renewable energy superpower. We need to attract more investment in homegrown industries so we can make more things here.

The great regions of Australia – the Illawarra, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley, Geelong, Gladstone and the resources precincts of Queensland and Western Australia – have powered Australia for a couple of centuries, and they will continue to do so in the net-zero world.

We need to use our rich abundance of natural and human resources to power a secure and sustainable future.

Encouraging investment in areas like critical minerals and green hydrogen will help make Australia an indispensable part of the net-zero economy of the future.

The budget invests in Australia’s economic future with production tax incentives for green hydrogen and processed critical minerals.

A new Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund will also back new industries like low-carbon fuels and green metals. Australia has all the tools it needs to prosper in the net-zero world. All that’s required is a government prepared to back in Australian jobs and opportunity.

Our political opponents are all negativity and no plan.

While the government has been relentless in fighting inflation, and fighting for Australian families, Peter Dutton’s only relentlessness is playing politics.

On Thursday we will hear from Mr Dutton. He has spent the past two years saying no to every measure we’ve proposed to deal with cost of living.

He has said no to energy bill relief, no to cheaper medicines, no to wage increases.

It’s time for Mr Dutton to give Australians some answers. He needs to deliver fully costed plans. He needs to tell Australians what services he’ll slash. He needs to come clean about where he’ll put his nuclear reactors.

Budgets are about choices, and we are proud of our choices.

The government seeks to represent every Australian.

There’s more to do, and we’ll keep working every day to deliver for all Australians.

This opinion piece was first published in The Australian on Thursday, 16 May 2024.

The Albanese Government is making critical investments in Victorian infrastructure, creating jobs and unlocking Melbourne’s North.

This week’s Budget delivers an additional $750 million to complete the Camerons Lane Interchange at the intersection of the Hume Freeway at Beveridge.

This takes the total Commonwealth Government commitment to the project to $900 million, part of our $19.2 billion investment in Victorian transport infrastructure over the next 10 years.

The Camerons Lane Interchange will support urban development in Melbourne’s north, and ensure easier access to and over the freeway.

It will be integral to the development of the Beveridge Intermodal Precinct, which, once complete, will be the largest intermodal in Australia, expected to generate 20,000 jobs for the region.

The Beveridge Intermodal Precinct will transform the nation’s supply chain, lowering costs for Australian businesses and families.

It is strategically located on the Inland Rail route and will support double-stacked container services for 1,800 metre freight trains to Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane via Parkes, or directly to Sydney.

We are working closely with the Victorian Government on priority projects for the benefit of the Victorian community.

While the previous Morrison Government had a deluge of press releases with a drought of delivery, the Albanese Government is ensuring projects are properly scoped, designed and costed so they can actually be completed.

We are delivering a better future for all Australians, one made in Australia that builds economic opportunity and thriving communities.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“We delivered a Budget this week for every Australian, from a Government working for all Australians.

“This important Budget announcement for Victoria is focused on our national interest and building a Future Made in Australia.

“This project won’t just get Victorians moving, it’s also creating thousands of jobs.

“Being stuck in traffic doesn’t just waste precious time you could be spending with the kids, friends or just getting on with life. It’s bad for productivity too.”

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King:

“The Camerons Lane Interchange at Beveridge will help create thousands of jobs and unlock the potential of Melbourne’s north while allowing us to work with the Victorian Government to deliver a full diamond interchange with the Hume Freeway.

“For too long, the Morrison-Joyce Government neglected Melbourne’s North – failing to deliver a single commitment for this area despite multiple promises over nine years.

“We are working for all Australians to deliver significant infrastructure that connects communities, stimulates jobs and builds the future of our nation.”

Federal Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell:

“The Camerons Lane Interchange will unlock a huge employment multiplier to our region.

“I thank the Victorian Government for working closely with us to ensure the delivery of this and other critical projects.”

At a time of great global uncertainty, the Albanese Labor Government continues to keep Australia secure while preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow, with responsible investments in all elements of our national power.

The Albanese Government is taking a whole-of-government approach to securing Australia’s place in the world. This requires the reversal of the long-term reduction in diplomatic resources and increased diplomatic efforts in areas of core national interest. We are delivering on this with further significant investments in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s capability.

The 2024-25 Budget will ensure the security of our critical diplomatic network over the long term, including our resilience to cyber threats, by investing more than $227.8 million over the forward estimates in upgrading Australia’s communications infrastructure and overseas property.

The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union, announced in November 2023, is the biggest step Australia has taken with a Pacific country since the independence of Papua New Guinea over 50 years ago. This Budget will deliver on the climate, security, development and immigration commitments under the Treaty.

In addition, the Government will commit $206.5 million over the forward estimates to respond to broader regional security and resilience needs. These measures will sustain the Government’s investment in our regional relationships in the Pacific.

The Australian Government understands that our prosperity, security and economic future is tied to our region. We continue to implement Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, including the $505.9 million already committed to deepen ties with the region. This includes a Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility to provide up to $2 billion in loans, guarantees, equity and insurance to catalyse Australian trade and investment in the region.

Strong, enforceable and effective sanctions are an important element of Australia’s foreign policy. The 2024‑25 Budget provides $26.4 million over the forward estimates to strengthen monitoring and enforcement under Australia’s sanctions framework.

Australia remains resolute in its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion. The Government will sustain Ukraine’s duty-free access into Australia for a further two years, until July 2026, to support Ukraine’s economy.

International trade and investment is critical to the Australian economy, creating jobs and prosperity, and opening up opportunities for Australian businesses to expand and diversify globally. The Government is expanding the successful Australia-India Business Exchange, helping even more Australian businesses benefit from new trade and investment opportunities with India and across South Asia.

The Albanese Government will also deliver a significant investment in the Simplified Trade System to make trade faster, easier and cheaper. This $29.9 million commitment includes a new Digital Trade Accelerator Program to provide businesses with new, secure digital access to important trade data, with enhanced risk assessment so trade flows easier across our borders.

The Budget will also provide $10.9 million to expand the successful Go Global Toolkit, which offers online export information and advice to help Australian businesses expand overseas and make use of our free trade agreements.

The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring the benefits of trade are shared widely amongst the Australian community, by enhancing the Trade 2040 Taskforce giving business, union and community representatives an active role in the Government’s trade policy agenda.

The Budget will include $2 million for Austrade to provide additional surge support for affected Australian agricultural exporters to re-establish commercial connections in China and continue to diversify into other markets.

Australia’s vibrant tourism sector continues to bounce back as one of our largest export industries. The Government will provide ongoing funding for China’s Approved Destination Status scheme, which enables guided Chinese group travel to Australia operated by Australian providers. This measure will support the ongoing return of Chinese visitors and provide greater certainty to Australia’s tourism sector as it continues to grow into the future.

A Greens-led senate inquiry that resulted in cross-party support for a re-focus on Antarctic science at the AAD has secured its first tangible win, with an additional 120 days of dedicated marine science expeditions over two years funded in the Federal Budget. 

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:

“Not only has a Greens-led senate inquiry resulted in cross-party support for a re-focus on Antarctic science at the AAD, but it has now also secured its first tangible win – with an additional 120 days of dedicated marine science expeditions over two years funded in the Federal Budget. 

“One of the inquiry’s key recommendations was that the government immediately fund between 50-100 additional shipping days per year for the Nuyina, while the government prepares a business plan for the purchase of an additional vessel to access the Antarctic.

“These additional shipping days are essential for enabling immediate and critical marine science voyages to the Antarctica and Southern Ocean, and the Greens thank the government for listening to the Senate committee and taking important steps to prioritise science at the AAD. 

“It was very timely for the Senate to scrutinise funding and governance at the AAD and do its job of providing transparency and accountability of government agencies, in addition to recommending changes. 

“More than ever our planet depends on us understanding the Antarctic region, and we can’t do that without scientists on the ice. Increasing the Nuyina’s shipping days will ensure there are no excuses for not having dedicated Antarctic and Southern Ocean science voyages. 

“It is now of critical importance that a business case is developed for acquiring a second vessel to support Australia’s presence in Antarctica, as also recommended by the Committee. 

“Our $500m state of the art icebreaker and floating science platform has been plagued with problems and delays to service since it was commissioned five years ago, and accessing a second ship – especially for logistics support – is a vital next step in ensuring our Antarctic scientists have access to the ice.”

The Greens say Labor’s budget contains barely no new spending for Australia’s woefully underfunded public schools while they pour an additional $5.9 billion over the forward estimates into the overfunded private sector.

The Schools Upgrade Fund for public school infrastructure will also be discontinued, yet Labor will continue to subsidise new construction in fee-charging private schools into the future.

Greens spokesperson on Primary & Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Tipping more public money into a private system bursting at the seams with funding, while 2.6 million kids attend public schools that aren’t able to deliver them the education they deserve, isn’t only unjustifiable, it’s reprehensible.

“100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) isn’t some utopian aspiration – it’s only enough funding to get 80% of kids in a school up to the minimum standard for reading and numeracy. And Labor won’t even commit to that.

“If Labor is so concerned about inflation and the cost of living, properly funding public schools and reversing the cost-shifting that’s produced soaring out-of-pocket costs for parents and carers, would have been a pretty smart idea.

“We know that Labor is currently in negotiations with the states and territories on new funding arrangements, but the two deals they have announced so far would actually bake in underfunding in WA and the NT.

“Labor has signalled that they will be introducing legislation to lock in the new funding deals. With the Coalition ideologically opposed to public education, the Greens are likely to be in balance of power on any future bills.

“If Labor thinks the Greens will just roll over and let them lock in underfunding for another generation of public school kids they have another thing coming.

“The Greens are calling for 100% of the SRS for every public school in the country at the start of the new national agreement, in January 2025.”