FEDERAL BUDGET - WHAT'S KNOWN SO FAR:
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THE BIG PICTURE
* Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg say it will be a "jobs budget" with the aim of boosting the economic recovery, which has already begun after a short-lived recession
* Economists expect a smaller budget deficit of around $80 billion for 2021/22 compared to the $108.5 billion estimated in the mid-year budget review
* Debt edging towards $1 trillion
* Unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent in March
* JobKeeper expected to cost $12.5 billion less than estimated, due to quicker recovery
* High iron ore price will boost revenue coffers
THE GROUND RULES
* Maintain a tax-to-GDP ratio at or below 23.9 per cent
* Budget repair won't commence until unemployment sub-five per cent
* Spending that lifts productivity
* Structural reform to boost economic growth
* Improving service delivery and funding national security measures
HIP POCKET
* Another 12 months of low and middle-income tax offsets
* Not expected to bring forward timing of income tax cuts
* Changes to superannuation to help women boost their retirement savings
* Age dropped to 60 for downsizers seeking to put home sale money into their superannuation
COVID-19
* No opening of international border until 2022
INFRASTRUCTURE
* $10 billion extra for road and rail infrastructure
* Commonwealth to share the cost of 2032 Olympic Games with the Queensland government
BUSINESS
* Incentives to attract global talent and business to Australia
* $1.2 billion digital economy strategy including tax breaks for businesses, digital cadetship trial and $500 million on government services
* Craft brewers and distillers to benefit from excise refunds
* Companies to benefit from simplified liquidation and restructuring rules
* $4 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority to run the news media bargaining code involving major tech platforms
* Australian Associated Press expected to receive $15 million over two years
HEALTH/AGED
* $17.7 billion response to the aged care royal commission
* More spending on mental health
* Disability spending boosted
* Telehealth subsidies extended to the end of 2021
* $8 million federal contribution to Canberra compensation scheme for victims of loose-fill asbestos
* Country doctors will be paid extra under a $65 million bid to tackle GP shortages in remote and regional Australia.
WOMEN
* Budget to include women's statement on economic safety and health issues
* Domestic violence prevention funding to double to at least $680 million
* $354 million over four years for cervical and breast cancer, endometriosis and reproductive health
HOUSING
* Five per cent deposit scheme for 10,000 first-home buyers purchasing a new dwelling, with the federal government guaranteeing up to 15 per cent of the loan
* Single parents buying their first home will be able to purchase a new dwelling with a two per cent deposit, with the federal government guaranteeing up to 18 per cent of the loan
(Price caps apply to both categories)
* First-home buyers will be able to release $50,000 from superannuation to save for a deposit, up from $30,000
CLIMATE
* $565 million plan for low emissions technology partnerships
* $263 million for carbon capture and storage
* $275.5 million to set up regional hydrogen hubs
WELFARE
* Expanded childcare subsidies worth $1.7 billion. Families with more than one child under the age of five in child care will have 95 per cent of their out-of-pocket expenses for second and subsequent children paid, from mid-2022. Also removal of $10,560 cap on childcare subsidy
* Measures to boost the childcare workforce
* JobSeeker payments to fall to $14.7 billion by 2024/25 from $32 billion forecast in December
RURAL/REGIONAL
* $371 million biosecurity package to protect agricultural and regional communities
* $10 billion reinsurance pool set up by July 2022 to subsidise high premium costs in north Queensland due to numerous disaster events
* $600 million for a National Recovery and Resilience Agency to support local communities hit by major disasters
* Sixth round of the Building Better Regions Fund for shovel-ready infrastructure projects outside major capitals, worth $250 million
* Northern Australia to receive business grants and improvements to digital services
* $66 million for Newcastle Airport upgrade
Australian Associated Press
