Budget 2025: A Band-Aid, Not a Blueprint - March 2025

While families juggle their own household budgets, this week’s National Budget serves up sugar hits and safe bets – designed to please, but not much else.

There’s some short-term good news – mostly already announced – but little to prepare us for the demographic and economic shifts ahead. We’ve had a series of unexpected financial boosts in recent years, driven by external factors like war, migration and commodity prices – not policy decisions. With global uncertainty impacting trade and future defence spending and a likely increase in natural disasters, we could do with a buffer.

Who Pays?

We desperately need substantive tax reform. Our tax system leans heavily on income tax, meaning younger generations are footing the bill for ballooning health and aged care costs. But they’re facing soaring housing prices and a cost-of-living crunch that makes home ownership feel impossible. This budget confirms what many already suspect – we’re breaking the promise that each generation will be better off than the last.

What about the Opposition?

At the time of writing, the Opposition hasn’t responded, but I’m not holding my breath. Independent economist Chris Richardson summed it up: “Both sides are promising Australians they’ll remain mediocre. I believe them, and you should too.” The major parties have essentially agreed on 99% of tax and spending over the next four years – where’s the vision and ambition?

What Needs to Change?

Instead of handing out tiny tax cuts, we should be indexing tax brackets to stop bracket creep. We need a real conversation about tax reform – how we fund essential services like health, aged care, and the NDIS – without sticking our heads in the sand. We also need to be smarter about spending. The Government should embed evaluation into programs to ensure we spend money on what works. And we could slow down the infrastructure pipeline so we are not driving up construction costs. The truth is that Independents are the only ones pushing for tax reform and responsible budgeting.

We all deserve more than a band-aid – we need real reform. I’ll keep fighting to make it happen.