Cost of living focus for 2025 Federal Budget

Assistance secured: Golden Dragon Museum CEO Hugo Leschen and chair Doug Lougoon, pictured here with Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters, will be celebrating the allocation of $800,000 for the design and planning stage of the museum's redevelopment. Photo: SUPPLIED

BENDIGO’S cherished Golden Dragon Museum was a big winner in this week’s Federal Budget announcement, with $800,000 allocated for the design and planning stage of its redevelopment.

The redevelopment is urgently needed after the Loong and Sun Loong Imperial Dragons were vandalised in May 2024.

As such, the site will be transformed into a fit-for-purpose museum, focused on protecting, nurturing and celebrating the Chinese heritage of Bendigo and Australia.

The fact that the budget concentrated on reducing cost of living expenses came as no surprise.

It was also announced that the co-payment for medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will be reduced to $25, saving the Bendigo electorate $1,343,746 annually across 39,092 scripts.

Additionally, an $8.3 billion investment in bulk-billing will bring an extra 275,100 GP visits to the Bendigo electorate by 2030.

The budget will also deliver 50 more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Australia and will invest $793 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better care for women.

After more than 66,000 taxpayers in the Bendigo electorate received a tax cut on 1 July, the announcement of two more cuts will see the average benefit for Victorian taxpayers reach $2530 in 2027-28.

Other highlights included $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief to the end of the year for households and small businesses, plus $2.6 billion for a wage increase for aged care nurses.

A total of $165 million in tax relief has been provided for hospitality venues, brewers, distillers and wine producers, including a two-year freeze on the indexation on draught beer excise.

“(I’m) so proud that our Labor Government budget is helping to fund the next stage of the Golden Dragon Redevelopment project,” Federal Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said. “Our much-loved dragons need a new home that is safe and secure.

“We’re delivering (cost of living relief) through tax cuts for every worker in the Bendigo electorate from Rochester to Kyneton. We’re also reducing the cost for energy bills for every household and locking in funding for the Bendigo Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.”