Sydney voters have been left frustrated at the “rubbish” tax cut by the Albanese government, with families fearing they will continue to struggle to make ends meet.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the 2025-26 budget on Tuesday night, unveiling a $17 billion tax cut package to help households feeling the pinch across the country.
If elected at the upcoming federal election, Labor has promised every taxpayer will be given a $268 cut to their taxes in 2026-27, before it rises to $536 in 2027-28.
It equates to just over $5 and $10 a week, respectively.
Speaking to Sky News reporter Crystal Wu, voters in the federal seat of Bennelong in Sydney’s north-west criticised the small tax relief from the Albanese government.
Lane Cove councillor and the area’s former mayor Scott Bennison – who quit the Liberals on live radio in August 2024 after being knocked back for pre-selection for a junior party member – described the tax cut as “rubbish”.
“Labor’s really financially destroyed this country,” he said.
One tradie said it was “not much but $5 is $5”.
“Five dollars doesn’t even buy you coffee these days,” another man added.
“Coffee? That’s all it would give me. Not even,” one woman said.
Bennelong is held by Labor’s Jerome Laxale on a razor-thin margin of 0.1 per cent.
Voters on Tuesday night told Sky News the measures in the budget will unlikely sway them from voting for or against Labor at the yet-to-be-called election.
From July 1, 2026, the 16 per cent tax rate will be lowered to 15 per cent for those on an income between $18,201 and $45,000.
The following financial year it will drop to 14 per cent, with the changes to leave an estimated 14 million Australian taxpayers better off.
Mr Chalmers told Sky News on Wednesday morning the cuts are a top up and is “one of the effective ways that we can help with the cost of living, but not the only way”.
“Now in isolation these tax cuts are relatively modest but in combination, the three rounds of tax cuts mean that the average tax cut is about $50 a week and that’s to help with the cost of living,” the Treasurer told First Edition host Peter Stefanovic.
“The budget’s got cost of living help across the board. Tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy rebates, cheaper medicine, cutting student debt, strengthening Medicare.
“This is about recognising we’ve made a lot of progress together as Australians on inflation but people are still under pressure and the budget is designed to alleviate some of that pressure.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed similar remarks, saying the average Aussie will keep an “additional” $2,500 combined with Labor’s first round of tax cuts.
He spruiked the further relief that had been announced in the budget, including capping pharmaceutical benefits scheme medicine prices at $25, $150 in energy bill relief and fee-free TAFE as other measures to help combat the cost of living crisis.
Pressed on whether Australians will feel the impact of $5-a-week relief amid price hikes in health insurance and groceries, Mr Albanese said the government understands Aussies had suffered during the Covid pandemic and from global inflationary pressures.
“What we’ve done though isn’t just ring our hands. What we’ve done is taken action with cost of living relief,” the PM told Stefanovic on Wednesday.
Mr Albanese said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had opposed “all” of Labor’s measures and flagged the Coalition’s potential cuts to make space for its nuclear policy.
“He wants to cut everything except for your taxes,” he continued.
Mr Dutton accused the government of “sounding more and more desperate each day”, saying Labor had resorted to using negative tactics to cover the “pain” in the budget.
“They’ve wrecked the economy. They’ve got this cruel hoax out at the moment. They’re going to in 15 months time offer a tax cut of 70 cents a day,” he said.
Pressed if he would back the tax cuts, the Opposition Leader said he would not, and will have his say when he gives his budget reply on Thursday at 7:30pm AEDT.
“Labor’s got a real problem here because there are families who are hurting. Jim Chalmers on the weekend said electricity prices had come down by 25 per cent, they just haven’t. That’s not the experience of families,” Mr Dutton told Stefanovic.
“The energy market is a disaster and we need to make sure that we can have cost of living relief and I think we need to make sure we address the energy crisis that Labor has created, and also keep people safe, I think that’s incredibly important.”
The Opposition Leader was tight-lipped when asked if he would offer “more generous tax cuts”, doubling down on Labor’s “cruel hoax” of 70 cents-a-day tax relief.
