Federal Budget: Offers of price of residing help however Government seeking to non-public sector | USAEMALL.com

Australians will get more help with the cost of living in Tuesday’s Budget, but the Federal Government is eyeing an exit date when it can leave the task of driving economic growth to the private sector.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher acknowledges it is never easy for governments to withdraw supports, especially ones that have continued for a period of time.

But she believes Australians recognise some — such as the electricity bill rebates that will be extended for a further six months — were only ever intended as temporary or one-offs.

Other measures aim to deliver broader community benefits, like the push for more bulk-billing doctors and skills training.

“We’ve been going through . . . a period of subdued glow growth, high inflation, people have been hurting in terms of cost-of-living pressures, and so government does have a responsibility to respond to that and to lean in and help where we can,” Senator Gallagher told The West Australian.

“But obviously, governments lean in with their Budget when they have to and then, at the right time, governments lean out.”

Government spending — both State and Federal — has kept the economy afloat during the slowdown over the past 18 months, but now the private sector is starting to tick up again.