With Australia’s Federal Budget 2023-24 to be publicly released on 9 May, PwC Australia’s Chief Economist and Insights Officer Amy Auster states that there will be five key issues that will influence the government’s budget decisions. 

In the PwC’s insights on the upcoming Federal Budget, Auster predicted that the Budget will be carefully crafted to provide responsible and restrained relief programs while accelerating activity in high-growth future industries. 

Aside from a potential uptick in revenue from strong commodity prices and solid taxation income, it is also predicted that government spending will be restrained to avoid fueling further inflation. 

“I think we’ll see a pretty strong outcome from FY22-23 leading into continued improvement in the bottom line for FY23-24 going forward compared with what was in last year’s Budget,” Auster says. 

“So we are going to be seeing a responsible and restrained Budget.”  

Check out: City of Kingston focuses 2023-24 budget on delivering responsibly 

Despite the restrained spending, Auster identifies five big issues that will be shaping the Government’s Budget decisions: cost-of-living, defence, sovereign capability, health, and productivity. 

The cost-of-living issue is expected to be a significant consideration in the Budget, with many Australians feeling the financial strain of rising housing prices, energy bills, and other living costs.  

Defence spending is also likely to be a key focus, with ongoing security concerns in the region and the need to bolster Australia’s defence capabilities. 

Sovereign capability, which refers to Australia’s ability to support its own economy and national security, is predicted to be another area of concern. As the pandemic highlighted the importance of domestic supply chains and local manufacturing, the Budget is expected to reflect this. 

Auster notes that healthcare will also likely to be a priority due the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare system and the need for investment in mental health services.  

“The Government’s going to be looking at how to make sure that it’s controlling expenditure and what the Treasurer has identified as those fast growing areas of expenditure – especially Medicare, NDIS, and disability care,” she says. 

Finally, the Budget is expected to focus on productivity, with investments in areas such as education, skills training, and research and development. 

“All very new and exciting areas that really open up the opportunity for us to lift productivity growth going forward,” Auster concludes. 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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