Budget delivers tax cuts and cost-of-living relief for North Coast households

NORTH Coast households are in line for tax cuts, energy bill rebates and healthcare support under the 2025 Federal Budget, handed down on Tuesday night as the Albanese Government attempts to ease pressure on families and position itself for re-election.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the budget on Tuesday night, outlining $17 billion in extra tax cuts over four years, a further $150 in electricity rebates, and major changes to student loan repayments.

The average worker earning $80,000 will be $536 a year better off from the new tax cuts, which take effect in July 2026 and July 2027. With earlier changes included, total annual savings are expected to exceed $2500 by 2027.

Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said the budget provided cost-of-living relief for North Coast residents, including more tax cuts for every taxpayer, more support for Medicare and energy bill relief for all households and small businesses.

“This is a responsible budget that helps with the cost of living for North Coast locals, while Building Australia’s Future,” Elliot said.

“We are delivering real cost of living relief now, while also investing in the future.”

The budget includes two $75 quarterly rebates on power bills from July, along with expanded eligibility for energy support for small businesses.

Student loans will be reduced by 20 per cent for more than three million Australians, wiping $16 billion in HECS debt. The income threshold for repayments will also rise to $67,000 from July.

Elliot said the budget would deliver a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for the Tweed and help strengthen bulk billing nationally, with the government committing $7.9 billion to expand access. The Help to Buy scheme will be expanded to support more first-home buyers, while a temporary two-year ban on foreign buyers purchasing existing homes will come into effect from April.

Other measures include $2.6 billion for aged care pay rises, a cap on prescription medicine costs, $38.8 million for the consumer watchdog to crack down on supermarket pricing, and a pause on draught beer excise increases for two years.

“The economy is turning a corner – with lower inflation, rising wages and low unemployment,” Elliot said.

“We’ve achieved all this the Australian way – looking after each other and working together.”

Responding to the budget, Greens candidate for Richmond Mandy Nolan said housing remained a major concern in the electorate, which has some of the least affordable housing and highest rents in the country.

She said it “tinkers around the edges of housing reform”, with only a small number of renters to benefit from the Help to Buy scheme.

The Greens are proposing to cap unlimited rent increases and offer discounted government-backed mortgages for first-home buyers.

– with AAP