Highlights of Federal Budget of Australia: 2023 and Its Winners and

Losers
Background
The Albanese government released its federal budget last May estimating the income and
expenditure of the Australian Treasury for the year 2023/24 (Government of Australia, 2023).
Budgetary measures enables the government to influence the economy while controlling spendings
and tax and non-tax based revenue collections. In most of the years after 1970s, the Australian
government was experiencing a budget deficit. It is a situation under which government spendings;
i.e. government purchases and transfer payments, override total revenue. Incremental deficits
pressurize the economy to be highly relied on external debts. Appropriately, a massive reduction in
the previous budget deficit is forecasted for the coming years and it is assumed to be at the level of
$13.9Bn. Keeping the cost of living package of $14.6 Bn at the core, this year federal budget is a
‘small spending’ document that is going in line with the ‘cash splash’ concept (Deloitte, 2023). In
this article, the winners and losers of the upcoming budget is going to get recognized.
Figure 1: Australian Budget Deficit

Winners
Welfare Recipients
Over 1Mn of Australians are eligible for welfare receipts that would get increased by $40 every
twice a week commencing from twentieth of September (Gould, et al., 2023). Taking incremental
electricity cost of households into account, the state has apportioned $3Bn for direct bill reliefs.
Appropriately, a deduction of $500 is anticipated for over five million households by next year
including households of pensioners, aged health card holders and household tax beneficiaries of A
and B categories. Single parenting payment to be raised up by offering an additional payment of
nearly $177 every twice a week for around fifty-seven thousand families (Visontay, 2023).

Welfare protection is deemed as the largest single government spending. Through the exercise of
fiscal policy, the government strives to acquire an income and wealth redistribution. More the social
spendings in the long term would be, more the economic output would be. The opportunity cost that
emerges with increased welfare costs in the short term would have no substantial effect in the
longer term economic growth.

Small Businesses
Several monetary initiatives have got declared for micro level business owners. The instant asset
write-off limit is to get rise up by $20,000 as an interim arrangement commencing from first of July
for each year. The threshold is applicable for every asset disposal, hence small businesses are
getting encouraged to purchase an asset portfolio. Further, small scale business entities with the
turnover of $50Mn or less are eligible for a deduction of extra 20% on the cost of depreciating
assets under the micro business electrification incentives (Visontay, 2023).

By encouraging micro level business enterprises, the government wishes to promote in-house
production, protect infant industries from unfair competition from foreign market entrees and
inspire the level of exports. Thereby, the possibility of workforce expansion and economic
development is planned to be achieved.

Aged Care Workers

Over 250,000 of aged care workers are registered in Australia are eligible for a salary increment of
15% under a massive $11.3Bn bundle. That is because a shortfall of aged care workforce is
examined due to low wage rates (Evans & Lowrey, 2023). The wage increment would be an
effective incentive for the attainment of the required employment rate. Despite, high salary
revisions would drive the economy towards a wage push inflationary situation.

Low-Income Renters
Under the commonwealth rent assistance program (CRA), the allocated CRA incentive is to be rise
up by 15% commencing with 20th of September. Appropriately, for single CRA beneficiaries would
get eligible for a payment of $180.80 every twice a week (Visontay, 2023). A demand pull
inflationary condition might incur with the rise of total disposable income.

Parliamentarians
Every member of the parliament would get ‘extra frontline electorate staff resources’ and an
increased travelling allowance which would be equalized to an extra cost of $159Mn for subsequent
four years (Visontay, 2023). This spending is validated in an economic perspective as an incentive
for better community service

Losers
Travellers
Passenger movement charges have dramatically increased up to $70 per passenger (Evans &
Lowrey, 2023). This measure was taken up with the warning signal of hampered post Covid
recovery with passenger peaks.

Tobacco Users
The tobacco levy to be increased up by 5% per year continuously for three years with the intention
of discouraging smoking addictions and get the tax income increased up by $3.3Bn (Massola,
2023).

Middle Income Renters

The ones who are not being eligible for the low income category are suffering due to issues with
increasing rents and securing rental property (Visontay, 2023).

Gas Industry
Government has plans to charge an extra fee of $2.4Bn from oil and gasoline firms by making
amendments to the Petroleum Rent Resource Tax (Massola, 2023). This modifications will restrict
the amount of deductible taxable earnings, accelerating the collection of tax money from gas
industries.

Tax Deceivers
A series of severe measures to be taken to forbidden illegal practices of businesses that skip paying
goods and service tax (GST) (Visontay, 2023).

Scammers
The national anti-scam centre to address online frauds and illegal activities is to launch operations
by next year at an expense of $58Mn. Over $17Mn funds would be apportioned to decrease
investment scams and phishing activities over the next four years (Marsh, 2023). Scamming has
become a cause for a substantial lose of annual tax collections hence such illegal efforts must to
demotivated.

References
Deloitte, 2023. Federal Budget 2023-24 From headwinds to tailwinds. [Online]
Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/federal-budget/articles/federal-budget.html?
id=au:2ps:3gl:4tl-federalbudget2023-
2023::6tax:20230508::google_ads&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tl-
federalbudget2023-2023&utm_content=banner&gclid=CjwKCAjw
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Evans, J. & Lowrey, T., 2023. Federal budget 2023: Winners and Losers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-09/federal-budget-2023-winners-and-losers/
102287
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Gould, C., McLeod, C. & Ransley, E., 2023. Budget 2023: Biggest winners and losers revealed.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget/budget-2023-biggest-
winners-and-losers-revealed/news-story/fd907c1786932f3409f8acba530a30d7
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Government of Australia, 2023. Budget documents 2023-24. [Online]

Available at: https://budget.gov.au/content/documents.htm
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Marsh, S., 2023. Federal budget 2023: Winners and Losers. [Online]
Available at: https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2023-winners-and-losers/
4eac9ee0-8297-490b-937a-11e35f4a6c61
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Massola, J., 2023. Are you a winner or loser in this budget?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2023/federal-budget-winners-and-losers-2023/
[Accessed 1 June 2023].

Visontay, E., 2023. Federal budget 2023: winners and losers summary. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/09/budget-2023-winners-and-
losers-summary-who-will-benefit-is-better-worse-off-federal-labor-australia-government-
[Accessed 1 June 2023].