See all the Budget 2026-27 documents here: https://budget.gov.au/content/documents.htm
Find the related commentary on ARR.News here.

The Hon. Jim Chalmer, Treasurer of Australia; The Hon. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia; The Hon Senator Katy Gallagher, Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Government Services, Joint Media Release, 12 May 2026

This is a responsible Budget that is all about resilience and reform.

It’s all about getting Australians through the global oil shock and building an economy that works for more people.

We’re delivering more cost-of-living help and building a more productive economy, a better tax system, a fairer housing market and a stronger and more sustainable budget.

The conflict in the Middle East is weighing heavily on our economy and compounding cost-of-living pressures facing Australians.

At the same time, we face longstanding challenges when it comes to productivity, intergenerational equity and access to housing.

That’s why we’re delivering new tax relief for workers, helping more Australians into home ownership, investing in Medicare and making it easier to build, do business and invest.

We’re building a stronger budget with lower deficits and less debt, to help take pressure off inflation and build our fiscal buffers at a time of global uncertainty.

This Budget helps Australians today and lifts living standards into the future by:

• Responding to the global oil shock
• Taking pressure off Australians
• Making our economy more productive
• Delivering tax reform for workers, businesses and future generations
• Making sensible and responsible savings

Responding to the global oil shock

Our fuel resilience package in the Budget will deliver more fuel for Australians, and more fuel security in our economy.

• Securing Australia’s near-term fuel and fertiliser security through Export Finance Australia’s $7.5 billion Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility.
• Strengthening longer term fuel security with our $3.2 billion Australian Fuel Security Reserve.
• Boosting our energy sovereignty by making more clean fuels here, promoting electrification, and implementing a 20 per cent gas reservation.
• Overall, the $14.8 billion Strengthening Australia’s Fuel Resilience package helps Australians respond to market disruptions and invest in future resilience.

Taking pressure off Australians

People are under pressure, we recognise that and we’re doing something about it with more cost-of-living relief in the Budget including a new tax cut for Australian workers.

• Delivering new and permanent income tax cuts for every working Australian taxpayer through the $250 Working Australians Tax Offset, along with the $1,000 Instant Tax Deduction.
• More than halving the fuel excise and reducing the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months.
• Rolling out legislated tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer this year and next year.
• Increasing the Medicare levy low-income thresholds.
• Boosting housing supply and helping more Australians into home ownership.
• Making health care more affordable and accessible, including by making Medicare Urgent Care Clinics a permanent feature of Australia’s health system.
• Backing higher wages for low-paid workers.

Making our economy more productive

Making our economy more productive will boost wages and living standards and that’s why it’s a central focus of the Budget.

• Rolling out a comprehensive productivity package that will reduce regulatory burden by $10.2 billion each year, boost long-run GDP by around $13 billion through work underway with states and territories, and lift young firms’ investment in R&D by $400 million per year.
• These reforms make it easier to do business, easier to build and easier to invest through meaningful reforms to approvals processes, establishing a single national market, promoting the uptake of AI and implementing landmark reforms to energy markets. The Government is also making significant investments in science and innovation.

Delivering tax reform for workers, business and future generations

Our tax package is about tax relief and tax reform to make our economy work in the interests of workers, businesses and future generations.

• Reforming negative gearing, capital gains and discretionary trust tax arrangements to improve the fairness of the tax system, support home ownership and fund new income tax cuts for every working Australian taxpayer.
• Delivering over $3.5 billion of new measures that lower taxes for businesses and start-ups including loss refundability, support for venture capital and a permanent $20,000 instant asset write-off for small business.

Sensible and responsible savings

Responsible economic management is a defining feature of this government, and this Budget is our most responsible yet.

We’re delivering $63.8 billion of savings and reprioritisations which is helping us to pay down Liberal debt and fund the services and supports that Australians rely on.

Our substantial savings and restraint in this Budget mean that:

• The budget position is $44.9 billion stronger than the mid-year update, and $264 billion better than what we inherited.
• Gross debt is down a further $18 billion in 2026–27 than forecast in the mid-year update and is now $173 billion better than we inherited.
• We’re returning every single dollar of revenue upgrades to the bottom line in consecutive updates for the first time on record.
• Net policy decisions are positive for the second consecutive update, with net decisions accounting for provisions totalling $26.1 billion over the forward estimates.

This is an ambitious Budget that provides immediate support to millions of Australians, delivers urgent economic reforms and acts on our intergenerational responsibilities.

It’s a Budget that builds a stronger, more resilient economy that works for more people.

See all the Budget 2026-27 documents here –https://budget.gov.au/content/documents.htm.
Find the related commentary on ARR.News here.