An intimate image has captured the emotion of budget day as the treasurer prepares to deliver a huge cost-of-living package.
A rare image has captured the emotion of Budget Day as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg prepares to release the economic plan.
Mr Frydenberg was greeted early Tuesday morning by parliamentary cleaner Luzis Borges.
Ms Borges presented the Treasurer with a large bouquet of flowers before the two shared a warm embrace inside Parliament.
It was a rare role reversal for Mr. Frydenberg, who has been handing out budget sweeteners for weeks.
The Treasurer is expected to deliver a massive cost of living package in the federal budget.
Earlier, Karl Stefanovic dealt a brutal blow to the Morrison government on budget day, accusing it of spending like “drunken sailors” ahead of the election.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham appeared on the Today Show to push forward the government’s economic management ahead of Tuesday night’s budget.
But a claim by Senator Birmingham that Australians had experienced ‘lower levels of government spending’ caught the Today host off guard.
“Sorry, where do you get lower spend levels from?” Stefanovic fired back.
“You spend like drunken sailors before this election.”
Senator Birmingham insisted there had been a ‘nominal reduction’ in the amount of spending.
“We’ve been very careful to make sure we’ve actually pulled away and saved some of the dividends of a stronger economy,” he told Nine.
With the aftershocks of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation impacting the back pockets of Australians, the government is set to spend up to $2.5 billion to meet the cost pressures of the life.
Senator Birmingham said measures, such as a one-time $250 payment to low-income workers and a reduction in excise duty on fuel, were designed to help Australians through temporary shocks.
“We will also have a very comprehensive package of measures to support Australians through these temporary shocks,” he told the ABC.
But Cassandra Goldie of the Australian Social Services Council said that would not be enough.
“It won’t make enough of a difference,” she told Sky News.
“For low and modest income people, we need to increase income so you have more money on hand and not as a one-time payment.
“It won’t cover the cost of essentials week after week after week.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg acknowledged cost of living pressures were the “number one topic” for Australians.
“There are real pressures on Australians right now,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“This is a responsible budget with targeted temporary measures designed to ease cost of living pressures now, but more importantly a long-term economic plan to create more jobs.”
The Treasurer’s Fourth Budget is expected to predict unemployment in Australia could fall to 3.75% by September.
But Chris Richardson, partner at Deloitte Access Economics, said workers shouldn’t expect their wages to rise anytime soon.
“Jobs news is good for a handful of people. The weak point is wages,” the budget expert told Sunrise.
“(Employers) now have more reason to pay higher wages at any time since the mid-1970s. They desperately need workers.
“But wage growth in Australia, it’s slowly lifting. So yes, it will get better, but don’t hold your breath.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party denied the government’s wage growth projection.
“[The Coalition] made 54 salary predictions and 52 of them turned out to be wrong. And tonight of course they will have another prediction,” Anthony Albanese told the Labor caucus.
“But we do know that real wages have fallen by more than one percent over the past year. We know that the last budget, not so long ago, predicted a decline in real wages over the next four years.