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Preston 15 May 2023(TIE)Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers has received a lukewarm response from voters regarding Labor’s first full budget since the election.
According to an exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian, only 13% of respondents believed that the new budget would reduce inflation, while 39% said it would make inflation worse.
Additionally, only a third of voters believed that the budget would help improve the economy, and only 20% thought they would be financially better off following the budget.
The budget’s $14bn cost-of-living package is intended to ease pressure on vulnerable groups and what the Coalition refers to as the “working poor,” with measures such as a $40 fortnightly increase in JobSeeker and other welfare payments.
Nevertheless, Dr Chalmers has embarked upon a five-day tour to sell the package to Australian voters.
While Dr Chalmers brought the budget back into surplus for the first time in 15 years, he has been challenged by economists who say that the budget could add to inflation.
The budget also funded the $11bn in aged care worker pay rises, as well as $3bn in energy bill relief.
Regarding the budget’s overall impact on the economy, 33 per cent of voters said it would be good overall – an improvement on last October’s budget, 29 per cent – but low by historical standards.
