The Australian treasurer's budget last night

Absolutely beautiful.

Thankyou Mr Albanese for making Australia great

There seems to be no negatives, though only the rich landlord will not like it

Funding has been given to the Transexual community to encourage education through library book reading and that's a positive

But...it seems he did ignore my umpteen emails about stopping this silly rule on coming back to live in Australia for 2 years to get the aged pension ,oh please spare the emotion !

Edited May 13May 13 by georgegeorgia

The Treasurer and the government he represents show no understanding of what makes a country and its inhabitants rich - namely, reward for enterprise.

A typical old-fashioned Labor budget: tax everything that moves.

Paul Keating put out an article reminding us of what he managed to achieve as a Labor Treasurer some 40 years ago. The contrast is great.

$10 departure tax increase

Nothing for me as usual.

Just when I retire more taxes on investing and tax breaks for workers.

Future rebate decreases for private health insurance.

But I no complain.

Actually mostly no change for retirees as can invest tax free or leave in super.

Liked the family trust taxes. Should have happened in 2019 when Shorten should have won.

Edited May 15May 15 by Fat is a type of crazy

No point starting a new thread about it, but I expect a rush on Australian citizen applications after Taylor's budget reply speech where he stated immigrants with permanent residency will lose access to most, if not all, Australian government social services.

I suspect many Thai women with Aussie PR will apply, just to cover their a**, in case of a Liberal victory at the next election.

On 5/14/2026 at 12:28 AM, mfd101 said:

A typical old-fashioned Labor budget: tax everything that moves.

It's expected that later this year Australia will hit a trillion dollars debt.

Whatever party is in government will have to tax everything that moves.

Australia is broke.

Edited May 19May 19 by KhunHeineken

On 5/15/2026 at 11:22 PM, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Nothing for me as usual.

Just when I retire more taxes on investing and tax breaks for workers.

Future rebate decreases for private health insurance.

But I no complain.

Actually mostly no change for retirees as can invest tax free or leave in super.

Liked the family trust taxes. Should have happened in 2019 when Shorten should have won.

If Shorten won back in 2019, when he looked to the Australian electorate for a mandate on negative gearing / the housing market, things may be a lot different now, 7 years down the track. Instead, it's just starting out.

How many young couples would already have purchased a house and started a family in the last 7 years, instead, they are still renting, slipping further behind.

The Australian housing market Ponzi scheme had to be addressed. Unfortunately, the below loophole means things will not change as much as many would have hoped.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/negative-gearing-loophole-for-millions-of-owner-occupiers-could-discourage-selling/f5adfe31-3500-474b-a6e7-8d50a4023a79

On 5/13/2026 at 11:27 PM, georgegeorgia said:

The Australian treasurer's budget last night

Absolutely beautiful.

Thankyou Mr Albanese for making Australia great

There seems to be no negatives, though only the rich landlord will not like it

Funding has been given to the Transexual community to encourage education through library book reading and that's a positive

But...it seems he did ignore my umpteen emails about stopping this silly rule on coming back to live in Australia for 2 years to get the aged pension ,oh please spare the emotion !

You do like stirring the pot.

Even my loyal labour voting friends said it was good for nothing

Edited May 19May 19 by SAFETY FIRST

On 5/13/2026 at 11:27 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Funding has been given to the Transexual community

These abnormal people have been given enough, need to start taking back. You are encouraging the weirdos, we should be forceful, let them know only 2 genders and many other with mental illness.

On 5/13/2026 at 11:27 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Thankyou Mr Albanese for making Australia great

Is this you Georgie?

2 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

If Shorten won back in 2019, when he looked to the Australian electorate for a mandate on negative gearing / the housing market, things may be a lot different now, 7 years down the track. Instead, it's just starting out.

How many young couples would already have purchased a house and started a family in the last 7 years, instead, they are still renting, slipping further behind.

The Australian housing market Ponzi scheme had to be addressed. Unfortunately, the below loophole means things will not change as much as many would have hoped.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/negative-gearing-loophole-for-millions-of-owner-occupiers-could-discourage-selling/f5adfe31-3500-474b-a6e7-8d50a4023a79

The thing that annoys me - and could come back to bite them - is that there is a perception of taking away from investors but given nothing back. There are a lot of investors.

That is an interesting point but I guess it would only benefit buyers who bought recently or kept a large loan over a period of time as of course they can't reborrow and claim that interest unless they are doing a major renovation or something.

4 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's expected that later this year Australia will hit a trillion dollars debt.

Whatever party is in government will have to tax everything that moves.

Australia is broke.

Australia isn't really broke. It's still filthy rich and will be filthier still in the future.

But - since the Hawke/Keating & Howard/Costello days - it's been run by steadily more & more incompetent nitwits (on all sides of politics) who can't work out how to combine a decent social support system with sufficient rewards for enterprise to keep building a modern high-tech economy that doesn't rely solely on digging up stuff out of the ground.

We have a few leftist here who can't hold a conversation without losing it

Edited May 19May 19 by SAFETY FIRST

50 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

We have a few leftist here who can't hold a conversation without losing it

I think we should leave the discrimination out and celebrate the fact the Transexual library book association got big funding to readbooks and storytime to school children !!!

This is another positive to make Australia a diverse multi cultural multi sex , multi trans community

Edited May 19May 19 by georgegeorgia

8 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I think we should leave the discrimination out and celebrate the fact the Transexual library book association got big funding to readbooks and storytime to school children !!!

This is another positive to make Australia a diverse multi cultural multi sex , multi trans community

We should proudly wear buttons that read, “We Are All Trans.” The Australian government must provide incentives to support those who wish to transition. Embracing and celebrating diverse identities will create a more inclusive and compassionate world for everyone.

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

We have a few leftist here who can't hold a conversation without losing it

How dare you.

17 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I think we should leave the discrimination out and celebrate the fact the Transexual library book association got big funding to readbooks and storytime to school children !!!

This is another positive to make Australia a diverse multi cultural multi sex , multi trans community

Statements of fact, such as this, are normally accompanied by a reliable link - otherwise people might think you are making it up.

Not that I would ever accuse you of making stuff up.

4 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Statements of fact, such as this, are normally accompanied by a reliable link - otherwise people might think you are making it up.

Not that I would ever accuse you of making stuff up.

Don't you know the rules are for thee and not for he.
Been that way for some time now

3 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

The thing that annoys me - and could come back to bite them - is that there is a perception of taking away from investors but given nothing back. There are a lot of investors.

That is an interesting point but I guess it would only benefit buyers who bought recently or kept a large loan over a period of time as of course they can't reborrow and claim that interest unless they are doing a major renovation or something.

Houses, as in, homes for families and people, should never have been turned into a tax payer funded investment, or, at the very least, should have had restrictions on the amount of properties or on the value of the portfolio, or both.

The doctor or barrister, negatively gearing their 8th, 9th, or 10th property, should have stop decades ago.

21 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Australia isn't really broke. It's still filthy rich and will be filthier still in the future.

But - since the Hawke/Keating & Howard/Costello days - it's been run by steadily more & more incompetent nitwits (on all sides of politics) who can't work out how to combine a decent social support system with sufficient rewards for enterprise to keep building a modern high-tech economy that doesn't rely solely on digging up stuff out of the ground.

Last month was the 20 year anniversary Australia paid back it's debt. We went from the red to the black. The guy responsible for that blames both major parties for Australia's current position in the below article.

In 20 years Australia went from the black to near a trillion dollars in debt.

Australia is so broke that it's considering selling off some military assets. 🤣

Not such a fantastic budget if you are looking to cash out of Australia and retire in Thailand.

This guy explains why.

34 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Not such a fantastic budget if you are looking to cash out of Australia and retire in Thailand.

This guy explains why.

It is fair to point out that these rules will have an impact in the longer term. This video though was made before the budget and his main scenario appears to assume no grandfathering provisions i.e. that if you already own a property you will be affected the same as people who buy a property after budget day. He then notes there could be grandfathering which in fact there is.

The rules start on 1 July 2027 and the only extra tax you would pay is in the treatment of gains after 1 July 2027. So in the short term of the next couple of years the effect will be nil or small - unless you make large gains specifically post July 2027. This issue will be a thing in periods after that .

On 5/20/2026 at 9:03 AM, Fat is a type of crazy said:

It is fair to point out that these rules will have an impact in the longer term. This video though was made before the budget and his main scenario appears to assume no grandfathering provisions i.e. that if you already own a property you will be affected the same as people who buy a property after budget day. He then notes there could be grandfathering which in fact there is.

The rules start on 1 July 2027 and the only extra tax you would pay is in the treatment of gains after 1 July 2027. So in the short term of the next couple of years the effect will be nil or small - unless you make large gains specifically post July 2027. This issue will be a thing in periods after that .

Sure, but I never said when such a cash out and move would take place.

I merely posted the video because he gave some figures to show the extend of what's install for the next generation of Australians that wish to retire to Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. They will be up for tens of thousands of dollar more liability to the ATO.

For those still wishing to use property as an investment, I predict a sharp rise in price in new build units, of which there are many coming onto market, due to the current housing shortage, so that means higher rents for the tenants as well. Units have been typically cheaper to buy and cheaper to rent than a house.

Wow, Albo has taken a hit.

"One of the most hated budget in almost 40 years."

52% polled believe they will be worse off with the budget.

Certainly different to the thread title. 😃

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URrNvGsInIQ

Edited May 22May 22 by KhunHeineken

On 5/22/2026 at 12:54 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Wow, Albo has taken a hit.

"One of the most hated budget in almost 40 years."

52% polled believe they will be worse off with the budget.

Certainly different to the thread title. 😃

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URrNvGsInIQ

You seem pretty switched on regarding Australia politics, budgets etc

In the 90s we were debt free, 30 years later Australia's got a 1000 billion dollar debt.

I'm not good at maths but just off the top of my head, that's spending over 30 billion dollars a year.

Where did that money go, any ideas?

6 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

You seem pretty switched on regarding Australia politics, budgets etc

In the 90s we were debt free, 30 years later Australia's got a 1000 billion dollar debt.

I'm not good at maths but just off the top of my head, that's spending over 30 billion dollars a year.

Where did that money go, any ideas?

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

Where did all the money go, well, some of it went to Issan, through Aussie expat pensioners. 🤣 🤣

Seriously, though, a lot of it went in budget blowouts and waste.

One example, the NBN, which at the time, was Australia's most expensive infrastructure project in history. Originally budgeted for at around $30 billion, the final cost, as of 2018, was around $51 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#:~:text=The%20project%20cost%20jumped%20from,final%20cost%20was%20%2451%20billion.

" The project cost jumped from the Liberal Party's estimated $29.5 billion before the 2013 federal election, to $46–56 billion afterwards. In 2016 NBN Co. said it was on target for $49 billion, but by late 2018 the estimated final cost was $51 billion."

If you Google "List of Australian budget blowout you will see a lot of websites setting out other projects that blew out.

Here's just one from the first page.

https://www.wpcconsulting.com.au/post/infrastructure-budget-blowouts-a-critical-look-at-australian-mega-projects

Another issue is, Australia now has the most public servants in the world, which includes three tiers of government. Even more than China, which has over a billion people.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/truth-about-australias-public-sector-after-viral-graph-sparks-debate/news-story/7eb87a1a608e04dc578666783689fd83

"In his opinion segment on Tuesday the 2GB personality said his team had “come across some pretty shocking numbers”, citing The Economist, showing “roughly 29 per cent” of workers were in the public sector."

"China, a one-party communist state, has about 34 per 1000 – a long way from our 143 per 1000 workers."

Then you have Australia's generous welfare system, which is being abused. The numbers are eye watering.

Income around $800 billion a year, with 37% of it going to welfare.

From first page of a Google search.

So, Australia has been borrowing to fund these losses, with the debt due to hit $1 trillion dollars soon, with no end in sight.

The issue for expats is, once Australia hits a certain amount of debt, and remember Australia relies heavily on personal income tax, and only has 28 million people population, with only around 14.7 million in the workforce, with "work" deemed to be 1 hour a week, Australia will lose its AAA credit rating, then you are looking at $1AUD = 15 baht, if lucky.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release

Australia desperately needs tax reform, way past the changes to property taxes in the May budget.

Australia's tax system is broken, and the country has been mismanaged for the last 20 years.

Edited May 31May 31 by KhunHeineken

I think NDIS brought in by the Liberal government took a lot of money

Now Labor is trying to dismantle it piece by piece

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

I think NDIS brought in by the Liberal government took a lot of money

Now Labor is trying to dismantle it piece by piece

The NDIS was put to parliament by Julia Gillard. (Labor)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Disability_Insurance_Scheme

"In November 2012, a bill to establish the NDIS was introduced into Federal Parliament by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.^"

^{Since its formation, there have been many success stories of the wonderful care and support the scheme has supplied for the disabled. Below is one such case. 🤣}

Just some of the missing $1 trillion of the tax payer's money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePFWZ63e1Q

Edited May 31May 31 by KhunHeineken

15 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

Where did all the money go, well, some of it went to Issan, through Aussie expat pensioners. 🤣 🤣

Seriously, though, a lot of it went in budget blowouts and waste.

One example, the NBN, which at the time, was Australia's most expensive infrastructure project in history. Originally budgeted for at around $30 billion, the final cost, as of 2018, was around $51 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#:~:text=The%20project%20cost%20jumped%20from,final%20cost%20was%20%2451%20billion.

" The project cost jumped from the Liberal Party's estimated $29.5 billion before the 2013 federal election, to $46–56 billion afterwards. In 2016 NBN Co. said it

15 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

Where did all the money go, well, some of it went to Issan, through Aussie expat pensioners. 🤣 🤣

Seriously, though, a lot of it went in budget blowouts and waste.

One example, the NBN, which at the time, was Australia's most expensive infrastructure project in history. Originally budgeted for at around $30 billion, the final cost, as of 2018, was around $51 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#:~:text=The%20project%20cost%20jumped%20from,final%20cost%20was%20%2451%20billion.

" The project cost jumped from the Liberal Party's estimated $29.5 billion before the 2013 federal election, to $46–56 billion afterwards. In 2016 NBN Co. said it was on target for $49 billion, but by late 2018 the estimated final cost was $51 billion."

If you Google "List of Australian budget blowout you will see a lot of websites setting out other projects that blew out.

Here's just one from the first page.

https://www.wpcconsulting.com.au/post/infrastructure-budget-blowouts-a-critical-look-at-australian-mega-projects

Another issue is, Australia now has the most public servants in the world, which includes three tiers of government. Even more than China, which has over a billion people.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/truth-about-australias-public-sector-after-viral-graph-sparks-debate/news-story/7eb87a1a608e04dc578666783689fd83

"In his opinion segment on Tuesday the 2GB personality said his team had “come across some pretty shocking numbers”, citing The Economist, showing “roughly 29 per cent” of workers were in the public sector."

"China, a one-party communist state, has about 34 per 1000 – a long way from our 143 per 1000 workers."

Then you have Australia's generous welfare system, which is being abused. The numbers are eye watering.

Income around $800 billion a year, with 37% of it going to welfare.

From first page of a Google search.

So, Australia has been borrowing to fund these losses, with the debt due to hit $1 trillion dollars soon, with no end in sight.

The issue for expats is, once Australia hits a certain amount of debt, and remember Australia relies heavily on personal income tax, and only has 28 million people population, with only around 14.7 million in the workforce, with "work" deemed to be 1 hour a week, Australia will lose its AAA credit rating, then you are looking at $1AUD = 15 baht, if lucky.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release

Australia desperately needs tax reform, way past the changes to property taxes in the May budget.

Australia's tax system is broken, and the country has been mismanaged for the last 20 years.

15 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

Where did all the money go, well, some of it went to Issan, through Aussie expat pensioners. 🤣 🤣

Seriously, though, a lot of it went in budget blowouts and waste.

One example, the NBN, which at the time, was Australia's most expensive infrastructure project in history. Originally budgeted for at around $30 billion, the final cost, as of 2018, was around $51 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#:~:text=The%20project%20cost%20jumped%20from,final%20cost%20was%20%2451%20billion.

" The project cost jumped from the Liberal Party's estimated $29.5 billion before the 2013 federal election, to $46–56 billion afterwards. In 2016 NBN Co. said it was on target for $49 billion, but by late 2018 the estimated final cost was $51 billion."

If you Google "List of Australian budget blowout you will see a lot of websites setting out other projects that blew out.

Here's just one from the first page.

https://www.wpcconsulting.com.au/post/infrastructure-budget-blowouts-a-critical-look-at-australian-mega-projects

Another issue is, Australia now has the most public servants in the world, which includes three tiers of government. Even more than China, which has over a billion people.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/truth-about-australias-public-sector-after-viral-graph-sparks-debate/news-story/7eb87a1a608e04dc578666783689fd83

"In his opinion segment on Tuesday the 2GB personality said his team had “come across some pretty shocking numbers”, citing The Economist, showing “roughly 29 per cent” of workers were in the public sector."

"China, a one-party communist state, has about 34 per 1000 – a long way from our 143 per 1000 workers."

Then you have Australia's generous welfare system, which is being abused. The numbers are eye watering.

Income around $800 billion a year, with 37% of it going to welfare.

From first page of a Google search.

So, Australia has been borrowing to fund these losses, with the debt due to hit $1 trillion dollars soon, with no end in sight.

The issue for expats is, once Australia hits a certain amount of debt, and remember Australia relies heavily on personal income tax, and only has 28 million people population, with only around 14.7 million in the workforce, with "work" deemed to be 1 hour a week, Australia will lose its AAA credit rating, then you are looking at $1AUD = 15 baht, if lucky.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release

Australia desperately needs tax reform, way past the changes to property taxes in the May budget.

Australia's tax system is broken, and the country has been mismanaged for the last 20 years.

15 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

15 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, Australia was debt free 20 years ago, not 30 years ago, so the "math" is worse. The anniversary for this was was last month, April 2026. I posted a youtube interview with Costelo about it.

Where did all the money go, well, some of it went to Issan, through Aussie expat pensioners. 🤣 🤣

Seriously, though, a lot of it went in budget blowouts and waste.

One example, the NBN, which at the time, was Australia's most expensive infrastructure project in history. Originally budgeted for at around $30 billion, the final cost, as of 2018, was around $51 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#:~:text=The%20project%20cost%20jumped%20from,final%20cost%20was%20%2451%20billion.

" The project cost jumped from the Liberal Party's estimated $29.5 billion before the 2013 federal election, to $46–56 billion afterwards. In 2016 NBN Co. said it was on target for $49 billion, but by late 2018 the estimated final cost was $51 billion."

If you Google "List of Australian budget blowout you will see a lot of websites setting out other projects that blew out.

Here's just one from the first page.

https://www.wpcconsulting.com.au/post/infrastructure-budget-blowouts-a-critical-look-at-australian-mega-projects

Another issue is, Australia now has the most public servants in the world, which includes three tiers of government. Even more than China, which has over a billion people.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/truth-about-australias-public-sector-after-viral-graph-sparks-debate/news-story/7eb87a1a608e04dc578666783689fd83

"In his opinion segment on Tuesday the 2GB personality said his team had “come across some pretty shocking numbers”, citing The Economist, showing “roughly 29 per cent” of workers were in the public sector."

"China, a one-party communist state, has about 34 per 1000 – a long way from our 143 per 1000 workers."

Then you have Australia's generous welfare system, which is being abused. The numbers are eye watering.

Income around $800 billion a year, with 37% of it going to welfare.

From first page of a Google search.

So, Australia has been borrowing to fund these losses, with the debt due to hit $1 trillion dollars soon, with no end in sight.

The issue for expats is, once Australia hits a certain amount of debt, and remember Australia relies heavily on personal income tax, and only has 28 million people population, with only around 14.7 million in the workforce, with "work" deemed to be 1 hour a week, Australia will lose its AAA credit rating, then you are looking at $1AUD = 15 baht, if lucky.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release

Australia desperately needs tax reform, way past the changes to property taxes in the May budget.

Australia's tax system is broken, and the country has been mismanaged for the last 20 years.

Thanks for your reply, very concerning.
You've spoken about the government expenses, outgoings. What about incoming, Mining, iron ore, coal, gas, etc. also taxes.
Poor Georgie pays around 30 or 40 cents in every dollar he earns from mopping floors.
We're one the highest taxed country in the world.

Australia is a major global supplier of fossil fuels, I would have thought the money coming in would balance outgoing.

13 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I think NDIS brought in by the Liberal government took a lot of money

Now Labor is trying to dismantle it piece by piece

Georgie, wrong again.

You labour voters, re electing Albo should be ashamed of yourselves, he's destroying the Australia I was born in and grew up in.

The only one who can save us now is Pauline.

They love her in Bali.

Edited May 31May 31 by SAFETY FIRST