CANBERRA, Jan 28 (NNN-AAP) – Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers promised, the next federal budget will prioritise addressing entrenched disadvantages for vulnerable communities.
Ahead of handing down his second budget in May, Chalmers revealed, he and Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, are working to identify Australia’s most vulnerable communities, and how resources can be pooled to make a “meaningful difference.”
The previous budget – the first from the Labour Party in a decade, after it won power in May’s election in 2022 – focused on austerity amid a cost of living crisis but the treasurer has flagged additional spending in May.
Chalmers told the Guardian, tackling systematic disadvantages was a passion dating back to his upbringing, in the working class suburbs of Brisbane, the area he represents in Parliament.
“If you want to shift the needle on poverty and disadvantage, and it’s such a big, national challenge, the best way to start is to find out where those challenges are most acute,” he said.
“The best way to shift the needle on entrenched disadvantage is to go where it’s most prevalent. There’s a lot of great work going on around the community in the philanthropic sector and other places around this. And we want to show some leadership here if we can.”
He said, one of the main things in the May Budget will be energy bill relief, and that is deliberately targeted at people on fixed payments and low incomes.– NNN-AAP
