Federal budget 2023: Jim Chalmers delivers surprise $5bn Medicare boost and cost-of-living help for Australians ‘under the pump’

Treasurer aims to strike a ‘methodical balance’ to see people through the hard times while setting the country up for a better future

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Jim Chalmers has announced a $5.7bn investment in Medicare and an increase in jobseeker and commonwealth rent assistance for all ages as the centrepieces of Labor’s first full-year budget aimed at helping Australians “under the pump”.

In his speech on Tuesday evening promising to “[see] people through the hard times – and [set] our country up for a better future”, the treasurer claimed the cost-of-living relief measures in the 2023-24 budget would shave 0.75% off inflation.

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