$250 million secured for Mona Vale Road!

This week the Albanese Government delivered the 2025-26 Federal Budget. Featured in this was a $250 million commitment to complete Mona Vale Road.

This is a wonderful win for our community on the Northern Beaches! It is new money. Up until this point there had been no federal money committed to this project and I am pleased that they will partner with the NSW Government to get this done. I’ve been advocating hard on this across both levels of Government all term. As a major transport artery for the peninsula this is critical infrastructure for our community.

I'm delighted to have been able to deliver on such an important issue for you.

Budget Brief:

Here’s my view on some of the top line hits and misses in this year's Budget.

Cost of living / economy:

Miss: No tax relief for small business

• Small businesses across the country are doing it tough and have been for years. Productivity has stagnated in Australia since 2016. Yet there is very little in this budget to support them. My calls for a small business tax-free threshold up to $20,000 and making the instant asset write-off permanent are practical solutions that I hope to see the Coalition take up in their budget reply.

Hit: Modest tax cuts for every Australian

• I welcome these modest tax cuts as our economy is too heavily reliant on personal income tax. We should be ensuring multinational and gas corporations pay their fair share of tax in this country, instead of heavily taxing people like teachers, tradies and nurses. These tax cuts are modest enough to not drive up inflation. 

Miss: Bracket creep not addressed by indexing the tax brackets to inflation.

Hit: Further energy bill relief for households - $150 rebate on electricity bills to the end of 2025. 

Miss: Missed opportunity to bring down energy prices permanently for all by introducing subsidies for batteries for homes and businesses so cheap electricity can be discharged to the grid in peak periods.

Hit: Additional $800 million injection into the Help to Buy Scheme to make it easier to get into the housing market.

Climate / Environment:

Hit: $3 billion towards the production of green aluminium and iron in Australia

• It's good to see Australia re-build the capacity to manufacture and value add in Australia. We need to move away from the ‘dig it and ship it’ mentality and instead set Australia up for future prosperity and resilience by taking advantage of our natural assets and diversifying our export sector.

Miss: Nature is again a big loser

• Only $50m a year for pest management and land conservation and only $3 million a year for ocean protection were budgeted for. This is a drop in the ocean for what is required. 

Health:

Hit: $7.9 billion to increase Medicare bulk-billing eligibility

• At the start of this parliamentary term, general practice was on its knees, and the rising cost of seeing a GP meant people were putting off critical healthcare. For the past 3 years, I’ve been advocating strongly for investment in general practice to make it accessible and affordable for everyone. Not only is this great for health but will save our health system billions in the longer term.

Miss: Little investment in chronic disease prevention.

• Overweight and obesity are now the major cause of chronic disease and early death in Australia and yet the National Obesity Strategy and National Preventive Health Strategy remain unfunded. Nor is there any budget for ending junk food or gambling online advertising.

Hit: $784.6 million to reduce the cost of prescriptions (maximum cost goes from $31.60 to $25), and $1.8b over 5 years for new PBS listings.

Miss: Mental health is overlooked again, including for adolescent and men’s mental health and eating disorders. 

Hit: Additional $2.6 billion to fund pay rises for aged care nurses.

Young people:

Hit: 20% student debt write-off for 3 million Australians.

Hit: 100,000 free TAFE places every year from Jan 2027.

Hit: More apprentices to build houses, through a $10,000 training incentive.

Miss: Nothing for the wellbeing of future generations – no framework for long-term decision making.

Women:

Hit: $3.6 billion for wage increases for early childhood educators.

Hit: $1 billion fund for crisis accommodation for women fleeing domestic violence.

Hit: $793 million investment in women’s health, with a focus on reproductive health, pelvic pain clinics, endometriosis and menopause. Something that I has been calling for. 

Other:

Hit: Education –  finally after 15 years, every school is on a path to full Gonski funding.

Miss: Nothing to end gambling advertising. I'll keep pushing on this.  

Hit: $47.6m additional resourcing for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Welcome news to support those who have served our country. However, I would like to see the full implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide.

Miss: Nothing to establish a Public Appointments Commissioner, to oversee appointments to major Commonwealth positions as I called for in my 'Ending Jobs for Mates' bill. 

Final take:

This is not a revolutionary budget. There were modest changes that will help ease cost of living pressures, but as we move out of the inflation crisis, it is also important not to again fuel inflationary pressure. 

I am very pleased that there is now a pathway for public schools to be fully funded and about the increased support for primary health care. The biggest misses in my mind are that small business was again overlooked and there is very little in the way of investment for protecting our environment.

I will continue to advocate consistently and constructively on your behalf to ensure we get good outcomes on the issues that are important to our community.