Tonight’s Budget confirms that Australians are poorer under Labor.

The Prime Minister promised this would be a “true Labor budget” and tonight we know what this means: a big-spending, big-taxing con job.

Tonight we needed a Budget that:

• Restored our standard of living by finally addressing inflation and cost of living pressures;
• Restored prosperity and created opportunity by supporting small businesses and helping young Australians into a home; and
• Restored budget discipline and honesty by restraining spending, bringing back the fiscal guardrails, a tax to GDP cap and delivering a structural surplus not a windfall surplus.

Labor’s third Budget has failed all of these tests.

Australians will be disappointed by tonight’s Budget. It does nothing to help Australians get ahead and to restore their standard of living.

In this Budget, Labor has added $315 billion of new spending, at a time when we need restraint. That’s $30,000 of extra spending for every Australian household.

After two years in office and three Labor Budgets, the Government is no closer to dealing with its homegrown inflation crisis – which means more pressure on cost of living and interest rates higher for longer.

Under Labor’s Budgets to date, the typical Australian household with a mortgage is more than $35,000 worse off.

Migration is out of control and the Budget papers confirm the unprecedented increase in net overseas migration that will now see 1.67 million new migrants coming to Australia over five years. Labor has fuelled the housing and rental crisis with unprecedented immigration at a time when housing approvals are at an 11 year low.

And at a time when the Budget forecasts unemployment to rise, the Albanese Government is increasing the size of the public service by an astonishing 36,000 additional bureaucrats in Canberra.

The Government has shown it is focussed on the wrong priorities at a time when Australians are doing it tough.

Under Labor, Australians are worse off. Australians know that despite the Treasurer’s spin, prices have increased by nearly 10% with increases for many essential items well beyond that: housing is up 12%, rents are up 12%, insurance up 26%, electricity is up 18%, and gas is up 25%.

In these uncertain economic times, Australians needed a back-to-basics economic agenda.

Until we see a real economic plan from Labor to sustainably tame inflation in a credible way, and grow the economy, then Australians will continue to go backwards under Labor.

The Albanese Labor Government has failed for the third time to address the source of the inflation and cost of living pain being felt by families and businesses right across our country.

Australians deserve better.