Who asked for the $300 energy bill handout? No one, according to nearly 800 budget submissions
There were hundreds of pre-budget submissions made to the federal Treasury. Not one requested energy bill relief be given to every household.
None of the recommendations given to the government in the almost 800 published pre-budget submissions this year wanted a blanket energy rebate for all households.
But a year out from Labor's re-election bid, that’s exactly what Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ budget offered. The government’s $300 annual refund on energy for every single Australian household, regardless of income, has been viewed by some as the budget's most obvious election sweetener.
A new analysis by Capital Brief of the 788 documents given to Treasury by stakeholders, individuals, academic institutions and community groups as part of the budget process shows many raised cost-of-living concerns. However, none asked for hundreds of dollars to be handed out in broad-based support.
The cost of living, including energy bills, is set to become a critical election battleground, placing middle-income households at the centre of the debate. The Coalition wants to cast the cost-of-living crisis, which was kicked off by the pandemic and global turmoil, as a sign of Labor’s economic mismanagement.
