Savings found in budget update as blowouts add up
Labor has made tens of billions of dollars in savings from its budget update to cover other areas, with its subsidized home battery scheme running out by almost $5 billion.
Finance Minister Jim Chalmers will announce his mid-year budget update on Wednesday and on Sunday will announce that the plan, originally planned for $2.3 billion, will now rise to $7.2 billion.
But without the changes announced by Energy Minister Chris Bowen at the weekend, that figure would have risen to an eye-watering $14 billion.
Dr Chalmers said the government would spend more on the scheme but not as much as if the policy was left “untouched”.
“There will be $20 billion in savings in the mid-year budget update, which is all about delivery, accountability and containment,” he told Sky News.
“This is an important way for us to make room to deliver on our commitments and at the same time make room for these inevitable pressures on spending areas.”
The treasurer signaled “tough decisions” were being made last week before announcing $20 billion in savings over the next four years.
Treasury Secretary Katy Gallagher said $6.8 billion of the savings came from reducing spending on consultants and hiring workers, $1.8 billion from restoring Social Security rates to pre-pandemic environments and $882 million from “advocacy reforms and strengthened program integrity at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
“Saving savings is not just about good financial management, it is also about tackling the significant spending pressures we face, while ensuring that the services our communities depend on remain strong and sustainable,” he said.
Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson said he was “gravely concerned” about the government’s ability to deliver projects on time and on budget.
“If they can’t control these programs, they should consider whether they should be offering them in the first place,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“When it comes to the Albanian government and its climate change initiatives, they appear to be much more expensive than they initially promised, and taxpayers are the ones who end up paying.”
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