Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Polley for that question and for the advocacy and work she does on behalf of the people of Tasmania. As the Treasurer said last night, this is the most important and ambitious budget in decades. It's a budget that responds to the pressures Australians are feeling right now, while putting in place the reforms needed for a stronger, fairer and more resilient economy.

The conflict in the Middle East is feeding inflation, slowing growth and putting Australians under more strain. At the core of the budget is an economic strategy with five main parts: fuel security and resilience, cost-of-living relief, productivity, tax reform, and responsible budget management. Under each of those five key areas there are important investments. In cost-of-living relief, a new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset will benefit 13.3 million workers from the second half of 2027, paid automatically through tax returns. This means that across the government's five tax cuts, including those that those opposite campaigned against, the average worker will be up to $2,816 better off in 2028.

We're also making investments in housing and in medicines and the ongoing funding in Medicare urgent care clinics—all areas where we know these measures are making a difference, where those opposite have argued and criticised us for the investments we've made. This budget continues the approach to support households with those important cost-of-living measures.