Lesley Yeomans: Australia Correspondent on the release of their federal budget

The just revealed Australian Federal Budget is being criticised as an election sweetener. 

The Treasurer's announced tax relief for households.  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is yet to call the election, but it's expected in coming months. 

Australia Correspondent Lesley Yeomans says they’ve tried to give people a little bit of everything in this budget, with tax cuts, more energy bill relief, wage increases and cheaper medicines. 

He says the Government is probably hoping it will sway people, but it’s hard to tell whether it will or won’t. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Australian government released its twenty twenty five budget last night.
Key focuses on the cost of living. Australians are getting
tax cuts seventeen billion dollars set to return to their pockets.
Are the winners where healthcare, student debt holders, energy bills.
Treasurer Jim Charmers says this is a budget for a
new generation of prosperity, despite the fact he's got ten

(00:20):
years of deficits, and he says this is happening in
a new world of uncertainty. Trade disruptions are rising, China's
growth is slowing, war is still raging in Europe and
a ceasefire in the Middle East is breaking down. Well,
that's inspiring. Australian correspondent Leslie Yeomans is covering it for
us and joins us now and she's got up very early, Leslie,

(00:41):
Good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Hey, good morning Andrew.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
So is this what people wanted?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, I guess some people will think it's okay what
we have to put into into our minds here though,
that this is basically an election near budget. We're going
to be going to the polls sometime soon and this
is given tried to give everyone a little bit of everything,
I guess, but it is only just a little bit.
As you mentioned, there's seventeen billion dollars worth of tax cuts,

(01:10):
which sounds like a lot, but that's probably going to
work out too about for the average for the average
income earner, probably about five dollars a week possibly, and
then they won't be coming into effect until the new
financial year. What else, sort of similar to last year's
budget to the cost of living relief, some extra money

(01:31):
for education, they'll be strengthening medicare, building more homes, and
people will also be getting a little bit of help,
more help with their rising energy bills. Those energy rebates
they've been extended to the end of this year and
they'll be giving households around one hundred and fifty dollars
extra a year now. Also with students still the people

(01:52):
with HEX debts UNI students who are still trying to
pay off their HEX debts, they're going to be helped.
Their debts are going to be cut around twenty percent,
and there'll also be a different way that they'll be
able to pay it back. They won't have to that
the actual earning rate is going to be lifted so
that when their actual payoff payments cut in will be

(02:16):
higher now. And one of the things it's interesting to
trying to appeal to people who have been trying to
buy a home. The government's going to ban foreign buyers
from purchasing existing homes in Australia for the next two
years and that will start next month. And it's just
a bid to try and get more people to be
able to purchase an existing home here.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Which is the complete opposite of what we're doing. Funnily enough,
and as you mentioned right at the begetting you guys
are heading to the polls shortly, so do you think
this will sway people's decisions at all or is it
a bit underwhelming?

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I think the government's hoping it will sway people's decisions.
Whether it will or not, who knows. I mean, it's
really hard to tell. The government's been in a situation
over the last few months. When you read some of
the social media comments and even look at some of
the polling. The polling hasn't been super bad for the government,

(03:15):
but a lot of comments you see from people saying
that the government's just been underwhelming. Absolutely, that it sort
of keeps telling you that it's doing stuff, but it
doesn't show or sort of actually a show to is
what it is doing. There's a lot of talk and
there's a lot of defensive people sort of saying, yes,
we're doing this, that and the other thing, but you
don't actually see a lot of stuff. A lot of

(03:37):
people have been underwhelmed and disappointed by the government because
it was saying when it first came into power, but
it was going to get all these things done, and
then very little happened or appeared to happen. So it's
just been you just have to wait and see who knows,
who knows what can happen between now and polling day.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
There's are the omens from Australia. I thank you for
your time. Beer drinkers, by the way, we'll be happy.
They're going to freeze the draft beer excise indexation. That
means the government misses out on two hundred million dollars
in tax revenue, but it's a win for beer drinkers,
brewers and hospitality.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
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