Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Lesley Yeomans: Australia Correspondent on the release of their federal budget

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Lesley Yeomans: Australia Correspondent on the release of their federal budget · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Australian government released its twenty twenty five budget last night.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Key focuses on the cost of living. Australians are getting
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: tax cuts seventeen billion dollars set to return to their pockets.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Are the winners where healthcare, student debt holders, energy bills.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Treasurer Jim Charmers says this is a budget for a
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: new generation of prosperity, despite the fact he's got ten
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: years of deficits, and he says this is happening in
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: a new world of uncertainty. Trade disruptions are rising, China's
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: growth is slowing, war is still raging in Europe and
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: a ceasefire in the Middle East is breaking down. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's inspiring. Australian correspondent Leslie Yeomans is covering it for
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: us and joins us now and she's got up very early, Leslie,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Hey, good morning Andrew.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: So is this what people wanted?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I guess some people will think it's okay what
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: we have to put into into our minds here though,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: that this is basically an election near budget. We're going
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: to be going to the polls sometime soon and this
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: is given tried to give everyone a little bit of everything,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I guess, but it is only just a little bit.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: As you mentioned, there's seventeen billion dollars worth of tax cuts,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: which sounds like a lot, but that's probably going to
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: work out too about for the average for the average
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: income earner, probably about five dollars a week possibly, and
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: then they won't be coming into effect until the new
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: financial year. What else, sort of similar to last year's
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: budget to the cost of living relief, some extra money
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: for education, they'll be strengthening medicare, building more homes, and
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: people will also be getting a little bit of help,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: more help with their rising energy bills. Those energy rebates
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: they've been extended to the end of this year and
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  Speaker 2: they'll be giving households around one hundred and fifty dollars
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: extra a year now. Also with students still the people
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: with HEX debts UNI students who are still trying to
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: pay off their HEX debts, they're going to be helped.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Their debts are going to be cut around twenty percent,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: and there'll also be a different way that they'll be
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: able to pay it back. They won't have to that
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: the actual earning rate is going to be lifted so
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: that when their actual payoff payments cut in will be
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: higher now. And one of the things it's interesting to
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  Speaker 2: trying to appeal to people who have been trying to
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: buy a home. The government's going to ban foreign buyers
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: from purchasing existing homes in Australia for the next two
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: years and that will start next month. And it's just
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: a bid to try and get more people to be
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: able to purchase an existing home here.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Which is the complete opposite of what we're doing. Funnily enough,
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  Speaker 1: and as you mentioned right at the begetting you guys
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  Speaker 1: are heading to the polls shortly, so do you think
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  Speaker 1: this will sway people's decisions at all or is it
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  Speaker 1: a bit underwhelming?
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  Speaker 2: I think the government's hoping it will sway people's decisions.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Whether it will or not, who knows. I mean, it's
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: really hard to tell. The government's been in a situation
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: over the last few months. When you read some of
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: the social media comments and even look at some of
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: the polling. The polling hasn't been super bad for the government,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: but a lot of comments you see from people saying
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: that the government's just been underwhelming. Absolutely, that it sort
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: of keeps telling you that it's doing stuff, but it
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: doesn't show or sort of actually a show to is
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  Speaker 2: what it is doing. There's a lot of talk and
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of defensive people sort of saying, yes,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: we're doing this, that and the other thing, but you
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: don't actually see a lot of stuff. A lot of
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: people have been underwhelmed and disappointed by the government because
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: it was saying when it first came into power, but
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: it was going to get all these things done, and
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: then very little happened or appeared to happen. So it's
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: just been you just have to wait and see who knows,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: who knows what can happen between now and polling day.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: There's are the omens from Australia. I thank you for
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: your time. Beer drinkers, by the way, we'll be happy.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: They're going to freeze the draft beer excise indexation. That
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: means the government misses out on two hundred million dollars
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: in tax revenue, but it's a win for beer drinkers,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: brewers and hospitality.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: to News Talks it be from five am weekdays, or
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.