CANBERRA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised that his Federal Budget for 2019/20 will deliver "more money in the hip pocket" of regular Australians.
Alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison, he will announce the first budget surplus in 12 years on Tuesday night, which he termed as the result of "responsible decisions" while telling the reporters on Tuesday morning.
"Tonight's surplus is no accident. It's the product of responsible decisions and an economic plan that is working. There is more to do, but the Australian people can trust us to do it," he said.
"Discipline when it comes to budget management is absolutely important, because if we can get debt under control, we can ensure more spending on the essential services that people need and deserve."
"Average families can expect out of this Budget that their cost-of-living pressures will be eased, that there will be more money in their pocket, congestion-busting infrastructure that will allow them to get to work earlier and to get home sooner.
"And guaranteed essential services of hospitals, schools, aged care, disability support - they're the things that are important to the Australian people, and they're the things that will be in tonight's Budget."
Under plans included in the budget, the governing Liberal-National Party Coalition (LNP) will reconfigure its tax plan to deliver tax relief for low and middle-income earners.
The reconfigured plan will see Australians earning between 37,000 and 126,000 Australian dollars (26,309-89,595 U.S. dollars) benefit from tax cuts earlier than previously planned.
Morrison brought the budget announcement forward to April so that his party could use the strong economy as the foundation for its campaign in the lead-up to the general election in May.
It is also expected to include billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure projects as part of the government's 10-year 75 billion AUD (53.3 billion U.S. dollars) infrastructure plan.
Speaking at his own pre-budget press conference, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), reiterated his own economic plan to better fund schools, hospitals and infrastructure while delivering tax relief for the working class.
"I believe in better schools not bigger tax loopholes, I believe in better schools, not short-term political budget statements like we will see tonight," he said.
"The government's now realized that they have a problem, that Labor has bigger, better, fairer tax cuts for nearly 10 million working people. We will study what they offer tonight."
Latest comments