27 March | The Coalition's Budget Reply
With an election expected to be called tomorrow, Opposition leader Peter Dutton used his Budget Address in Reply to informally launch the Coalition’s election campaign. His speech was structured around building a “stronger, safer and better” Australia by providing immediate cost-of-living relief, promising to suppress inflation and restoring fiscal discipline.
While both the Coalition and Labor have promised cost-of-living relief, Labor did this through income tax cuts while the Coalition has promised a cut to the fuel excise.
The Coalition’s key priorities are captured by the four pieces of legislation that the Coalition committed to enacting upon forming Government:
Energy Price Reduction Bill
Lower Immigration and More Homes for Australians Bill
Keep Australians Safe Bill
Guaranteed Funding for Health, Education and Essential Services Bill
Dutton used his speech to promise to rein in inflationary spending, reduce the cost of energy and strengthen the economy. Dutton also promised “a stronger economy with lower inflation, cheaper energy, affordable homes, quality healthcare and safer communities”.
See the Opposition’s key measures below:
Dutton vowed to restore fiscal restraint and discipline to reduce inflation, drive down interest rates and reverse economic decline. Dutton committed to reducing government spending by axing 41,000 public servants from the federal bureaucracy and abolishing the $20 Billion Rewiring Australia Fund, $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund and $14 billion of production tax credits for green hydrogen.
To combat cost-of-living pressures, Dutton pledged to halve the fuel excise which, by the Coalition’s calculations, will generate $14 a week in savings for single-car households and $28 for two-car households.
Dutton attributed energy volatility and insecurity to an overreliance on renewable energy, committing to integrating nuclear energy into the energy mix and increasing gas supply. Dutton also vowed to defund the Environmental Defenders Office and remove regulatory burdens in areas of duplication across local, state and federal governments.
Dutton committed to curtailing union militancy, reverting to a simple statutory definition of ‘casual worker’, de-registering the CFMEU, implementing anti-racketeering laws and setting up a police taskforce to remove criminal elements from the construction industry.
Dutton outlined a housing-focused strategy aimed at addressing mortgage and rent stress, and restoring the “great Australian dream” of home ownership.
Central to Dutton’s plan is a 25 percent cut to the permanent migration intake, a move he argues will ease pressure on housing supply. Dutton also pledged a $5 billion investment in infrastructure to revive stalled construction projects, and proposed to allow first-home buyers to access up to $50,000 from their superannuation to help with deposits. Dutton also committed to scrapping Labor’s $10 billion Housing Australia Fund.
Dutton emphasised a renewed focus on national security, flagging that under the Coalition there will be a significant election announcement regarding defence with specifics to be revealed during the campaign.
Dutton made commitments to restore law, order and justice, vowing to bolster social cohesion by establishing an antisemitism taskforce and counteract crime by enacting coherent national knife laws, stringent bail laws and deporting reoffending noncitizens.
