Jim Chalmers rules out fuel excise extension and downplays hopes for tax relief in ‘most responsible’ budget yet

Jim Chalmers has warned there will be little room for more cost of living support in his fifth and “most responsible” budget yet, as he ruled out an immediate extension of the 26-cent cut to the fuel excise and downplayed hopes for additional tax relief for workers. The treasurer also said Australian voters would forgive Labor for breaking a pre-election vow not to touch negative gearing rules for landlords, which is set to form part of a package that would also scale back the capital gains tax discount in the name of intergenerational fairness. As the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy board began its two-day meeting that most economists predict will end with a third straight interest rate hike on Tuesday , Chalmers promised that the budget in a week’s time would play “a helpful, not a harmful role in the fight against inflation”. “Australians are already paying a very hefty price for this war in the Middle East. We had some inflationary pressures in our economy before the war. The war has turbocharged those inflationary pressures ,” he said on Monday. “That’s one of the reasons why the budget must be, and will be, so responsible. We will save more than we spend in the budget.” With no end in sight for the US-Israel war on Iran and the associated global shock to the supply of oil and other critical commodities such as fertiliser , Chalmers said the government had “a whole range of contingencies” should the economy deteriorate more quickly than expected. …