Josh Frydenberg

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hands down his fourth budget. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE

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Politics

Migration, cost of living and climate change - all the key reactions to the federal budget

Josh Frydenberg handed down the federal budget on Tuesday night.

Josh Frydenberg

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hands down his fourth budget. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE

Published 29 March 2022 7:00pm
Updated 29 March 2022 10:20pm
Source: SBS News

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29 Mar 2022 10:18pm
Thanks for joining!
And, that’s a wrap! Thank you for joining SBS News as we brought you all the key points and reaction to tonight’s federal budget.

As Tom Stayner reports, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has produced a budget with a smaller deficit than projected, alongside generous spending - setting the stage for the coming political battle.

You can read through all the main announcements, here:
READ MORE

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With the cost of living high on the agenda, who are the winners and losers? Isabelle Lane has you covered:
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Federal budget 2022: Who are the winners and losers?

Stay tuned as SBS World News brings you a budget special, from 10:30pm.

SBS News in Arabic will have full analysis tomorrow,
streaming live from 8pm
or you can watch it back anytime
on SBS OnDemand.
SBS News in Mandarin will also have analysis
tomorrow from 8:30pm
or anytime
on SBS On Demand.


Good night!
29 Mar 2022 9:59pm
'A lean, mean budget for people with disability'
The National Disability Insurance Scheme meanwhile has seen a boost in funding over the long term as it attempts to support some 500,000 people on the program.

$33.9 billion will be invested in 2022-23 - a 4.9 per cent increase from the previous year.

Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) said a lot of what was included in the budget for disabilities was just re-announcing things from the last few years including what's in Australia's Disability Strategy or last year's budget.

"The Treasurer said NDIS funding rose every year and will always be fully funded by this government, but that doesn't mean much to people with disability whose NDIS plans are being cut right now," DANA CEO Mary Mallett said.


"Everyone looks at the budget and thinks - what's in it for me? People will see the fuel excise has been cut in half for six months. But so many people with disability live in poverty and can't afford an accessible vehicle, so the reduction in fuel doesn't help them."

"It's really offensive for people to hear the Treasurer describe the details of spending into things like defence when they are struggling to buy food and the basic essentials of daily living," Ms Mallett said.

People With Disability Australia (PWDA) said the government has ignored key budget requests that PWDA and other key disability organisations have been advocating for over the last few months.

PWDA President Samantha Connor said, “We’re very disappointed with the outcome of the 2022 Federal Budget for people with disability.

“This budget is a lean, mean budget for people with disability, their families and carers.
29 Mar 2022 9:57pm
Watch: The highlights from Josh Frydenberg's budget speech
29 Mar 2022 9:50pm
What's in the budget for First Nations people?
The government is spending big ahead of a looming election as the high cost of living starts to bite more Australians. But what’s there for First Nations people?

It has slated $31.8 million to begin work to establish 35 Local and Regional Voice bodies across Australia.

A possible referendum could be on the cards, with $160 million earmarked for a referendum under the government's contingency reserve fund for potential pending decisions.
Indigenous Affairs graphic
NITV political correspondent Sarah Collard
has this report
, including what's in the budget for Indigenous rangers, housing, cultural heritage protection, health, education, jobs and training and justice investment.
29 Mar 2022 9:25pm
Small businesses given digital and skills tax boost
Cuts to the fuel excise, an increase to the nation’s backpacker and skilled migrant intake and tax relief for upskilling and investing in digital technology are being offered to small businesses.
Graphic relating to the budget's small business support
Source: SBS
An increase of 10,000 skilled migrant places to 109,000 in this budget is expected to be welcomed by small businesses experiencing worker shortages.

Operators may also benefit from an additional 11,000 places for prospective backpackers in the 2022-2023 financial year.

You can read more from Tania Lee
here
.
29 Mar 2022 9:22pm
Government 'failed to increase minimum wage': Unions react to the federal budget
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Michele O’Neil said there was nothing in this budget that would deliver wage increases for Australian workers.

She also said one-off payments were no substitute for real wage increases.

"The test for this government was whether they would end nearly a decade of low wage growth. And the answer tonight is 'no'," Ms O'Neil said.
"What the government should have done and failed to do is support an increase on the minimum wage. They also could've supported that important move to lift the wages of aged care workers that we know are so underpaid and undervalued for the work they do.

"Tonight, the budget's own figures confirm that workers will lose another $500 in the first six months of this year [in real wage cuts].

"They should have led the way by giving an increase to workers in the public sector - they could lift wages and remove the pay gap but instead, we've seen one-off payments."
29 Mar 2022 9:04pm
Watch: SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent Anna Henderson interviews Josh Frydenberg
29 Mar 2022 8:51pm
Labor says Scott Morrison 'only pretending to care about the cost of living'
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said there was "nothing that ... makes up for a decade of attacks on wages, job security and Medicare".

In a statement, he said: "Its defining features are pay that won't keep up with prices and almost nothing to show for a trillion dollars in debt.

"It's a ploy for an election, not a plan for a better future.

"Australians need a pay rise, not a patch job that leaves them $26 a week worse off.

"Scott Morrison is only pretending to care about the costs of living because he has to call an election in the next fortnight, and he's running out of time."

29 Mar 2022 8:49pm
'Disappointed': Older Australian and aged care representative bodies react to the federal budget
On the back of a damning royal commission, aged care received a record $17.7 billion investment in last year’s budget, and will receive a further $468.3 million in 2022-23 "to continue implementing the government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety".

Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia, the peak advocacy body for older Australians, said tonight’s budget will help the hip pocket and aged care, but more accountability of providers’ aged care spending is needed.
Aged Care graphic for live blog
COTA Australia chief executive Ian Yates AM said tonight’s budget sets the scene for a federal election campaign over the coming weeks, with the hopes of older Australians now resting on election announcements for vital services such as oral and dental health.

"We were disappointed that the government’s cost of living relief for middle-income wage earners, did not include low- to middle-income self-funded retirees living only off their superannuation," he said.

The Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) has said there is nothing in the federal budget to improve aged care wages, which will leave their dedicated workers on the edge of poverty and many older Australians without the services they need.

The budget confirms the inadequacy of the government’s previous response to the royal commission, according to AACC.

It said there are some modest new initiatives that will be evaluated and analysed in the coming days.

An AACC spokesperson said: "Since the start of the pandemic, aged care workers have gone above and beyond. They should be getting the pay they deserve and career certainty. The royal commission recognised this. It’s well over time for the government to fix this once and for all."
29 Mar 2022 8:43pm
'Climate change' appears once in budget papers
The term "climate change" appears just once in the budget papers.

"Climate change is a very important global issue and we are responding with significant investments,” Mr Frydenberg said when questioned on this in a press conference prior to his budget speech.
Climate change graphic
"Australia is on the pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 and playing its part in responding to the critical global challenge of climate change. Technology, not taxes, will get us there,” the treasurer said in his address tonight.

"Already, Australia has the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world.

"We are investing in clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, batteries and large-scale solar."

Independent candidate Allegra Spender, who is contesting the seat of Wentworth in Sydney's eastern suburbs, was quick to respond on Twitter.

"We are seven budgets from 2030 and the federal government ignores Australia’s single biggest economic opportunity: climate change," she wrote.
"Imagine a budget that treated climate change seriously. An end to fossil fuel subsidies, support for solar and wind, and more choice in electric vehicles. It’s what business has been crying out for, but tonight - nothing."
29 Mar 2022 8:39pm
Average earnings per hour expected to increase
Wage growth is tipped to "accelerate to its fastest pace in almost a decade", with growth in the Wage Price Index forecast to increase from 2.75 per cent in 2021-22 to 3.25 per cent in 2022-23.

"Broader and more representative wage measures are picking up more quickly as workers take advantage of the tight labour market, with average earnings per hour expected to increase by five per cent through the year to the June quarter of 2022," the budget papers say.

Read more about how,
for many people in Australia, increased wages haven't made life any easier
.
29 Mar 2022 8:25pm
'Temporary and targeted' cost of living relief
The government is promising "temporary and targeted" relief for Australian households and businesses facing cost of living pressures "as a result of the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather events".

These one-off-payments include:
  • A $420 cost of living tax offset for more than 10 million low-and-middle-income earners. It will be available from 1 July 2022 when people submit their 2021-22 tax returns. This one-off payment is estimated to reduce tax receipts by $4.1 billion over the forward estimates period. The government says it’s a practical measure that will ease cost of living pressures for 10 million Australians.
  • A $250 cost of living payment will also be paid to eligible Australian pensioners, welfare recipients, veterans and concession card holders. It will be paid automatically to six million people at a cost of $1.5 billion. More than half of those who will benefit are pensioners.
A graphic showing the government's announcement of a one-off tax offseht for low- and middle- income earners.
Source: SBS
Economist Gabriella D’Souza has been in budget lock-up with the SBS News team at Parliament House.

"We always knew this was going to be a cost-of-living budget, and we’ve seen that through spending measures to ease pressures on households, that includes the [lower-and-middle-income tax] changes and the fuel excise cut," she said.
29 Mar 2022 8:23pm
Humanitarian Program maintained, additional places for Afghan nationals
The government will maintain the Humanitarian Program at 13,750 places in 2022-23 and over the forward estimates, which will remain a ceiling for the program.

An additional 16,500 humanitarian places for Afghan nationals will be available across the four years from 2022-23, to address the anticipated need for places following the Taliban’s return to power.

29 Mar 2022 8:22pm
Budget too focused on temporary solutions: Australian Council of Social Service
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is an Australian organisation that advocates for action to reduce poverty and inequality and has said the federal budget ignores the big challenges the country faces.

"We don’t need temporary measures - we need measures that communities can rely on," ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said.

She said the budget is full of temporary fixes when what is needed are permanent solutions.

"[The budget] does nothing to lift the incomes of people with the least. Whilst we welcome the inclusion of people on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance who will receive the $250 bonus payment when you live on $46 a day, this payment will help for a week, but how do you pay the next week’s rent?

"The government says this is a cost-of-living budget, but it fails to deal with the biggest cost of living, which is housing. Its housing measures will very likely push house prices up and make housing affordability worse.

"There is no social housing investment in this budget when we absolutely need it."
29 Mar 2022 8:19pm
Migration expected to bounce back
Net overseas migration to Australia is estimated to reach 180,000 in 2022-23 in the wake of being rocked by COVID-19 border closures.

The pandemic had seen these levels fall into the negative for the first time since after World War II.

GFX 290322 Net Overseas Migration STILL.jpg

Migration is forecast to increase from -89,900 people in 2020-21 to 41,000 people in 2021-22. It will reach 180,000 in 2022-23 and 213,000 in 2023-24.

Before the pandemic, net overseas migration had been around 190,000 people in 2019-20.
29 Mar 2022 8:15pm
Children to have access to 15 hours of preschool a week
The government is forecast to spend a record $10.3 billion in childcare in 2021-22, and subsidy changes have been brought forward from 1 July to 7 March, leaving an expected 250,000 families $2,200 a year better off.

The government has also announced an additional $40 million in funding over the next four years to preschoolers, with children in all states and territories to have access to 15 hours of preschool a week, worth $1,340 per child.

The 2022-23 budget also contains $19.4 million to establish up to 20 childcare services in areas where there is an absence or limited supply of childcare.
29 Mar 2022 8:08pm
Single parents to access full 20 weeks of paid parental scheme
The government will expand eligibility for the paid parental leave scheme, including allowing single parents to be able to access the full 20 weeks – amounting to an additional two weeks of paid leave.

The changes also mean partners will be able to access the government’s scheme at the same time as employer-funded leave allowance.

The decision will see the government invest $346.1 million over five years, and will include expanding the income test to a threshold of $350,000.
29 Mar 2022 8:06pm
Frydenberg unveils $78 billion deficit
"A strong economy means a stronger budget," Mr Frydenberg said, boasting of the "largest and fastest improvement to the budget bottom line in over 70 years".

"By the end of the forward estimates, the budget is $100 billion better off compared to last year. More people in work, fewer on welfare. Repairing the budget without increasing taxes," he said.

The budget forecasts show that net debt is expected to hit 31.1 per cent of GDP at the end of the 2022-23 financial year and is forecast to peak at 33.1 per cent ($864.7 billion) in 2025-26.
GFX 290322 Deficit STILL.jpg
A graphic showing the budget deficit for 2022-23/ Source: SBS
The budget deficit for 2022-23 is expected to be $78 billion, or 3.4 per cent of GDP. That’s an improvement from the $98.9 billion estimated in the mid-year budget review released in December last year.

The deficit is forecast to more than halve to 1.6 per cent of GDP over the next three years.
29 Mar 2022 8:04pm
'Substantial new women’s health package'
The budget also includes a focus on women and girls’ health, including:

· $330.6 million to promote the health of women and girls, including to support the National Women’s Health Strategy. This includes $58 million over four years from 2022-23 to improve the treatment, management and diagnosis of
endometriosis
.

· $23 million over four years to respond to the National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan, including funding for bereavement support for families who have experienced stillbirth or miscarriage.
29 Mar 2022 8:00pm
Treasurer promises $1.3 billion 'to end violence against women and children'
The budget includes $1.3 billion to support the delivery of the new National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32. This funding is split across four pillars: prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.

It includes:

· $203.6 million for prevention measures such as awareness-raising and education on consent.

· $328.2 million in early intervention efforts, including training for community frontline workers, health professionals and the justice sector.

· $480.1 million for measures such as the extension of the Escaping Violence Payment.

· $290.9 million for a range of health and justice measures.

· $19 million to build data and evidence to support the next National Plan.
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