Big Budget show

As I write, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has just delivered a relatively measured Federal Budget. On Tuesday 14th May, he had the unenviable job of nudging growth without triggering further inflation amidst weak and uncertain domestic and global economic outlooks.

Labor framed the budget on the changes made to the stage three tax cuts and the Future Made in Australia positionings. The government faced a dilemma with this budget. Spend too much, and they risk overheating an already supercharged economy and exacerbating cost-of-living pressures. Spend too little, and they risk providing insufficient support for business should the long-expected-but-never-quite-here downturn come to pass. It seems that the surplus of $9.3bn represents a carefully calibrated middle-path between these two unpleasant scenarios. It’s been a teetering balancing act, whichever way you look at it. Chalmers said before delivering the speech that Australia, “had a lot going for our economy,” but “we’ve also got a lot coming at us.”

The mention of free TAFE in various construction and manufacturing courses may be helpful to some, and 225,000 scientists and technologists have welcomed the announcement of a review of the R&D system, as a way to chart a course towards investing 3% of GDP in R&D.

This comes on top of measures already announced to the media before budget night, including more affordable housing, the $22.7bn Future Made in Australia package, and the big one: a tax cut for every taxpayer.

There was also a strategic investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), which is a pathway to incentivising business to help the country reach a 3% of GDP target for R&D and secure the nation’s future are welcome initiatives in the 2024-25 Federal Budget.

Paul Hellard