Budget 2022: Treasurer to introduce ‘significant’ cut to fuel excise

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will ease financial pressure on Australians by cutting the fuel excise and expanding the New Home Guarantee Scheme for first home buyers in Tuesday’s budget. 

The ‘significant’ cut to the petrol tax, which will be in place for six months, is in response to rising fuel and oil prices which have skyrocketed across the country largely due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The fuel excise, which runs at 44.2 cents a litre, will be slashed by 10 to 20 cents, providing relief for motorists feeling the pinch of high fuel costs, The Australian reported.

The temporary meausre will be brought in despite some senior Coalition members and industry groups opposing the cut. 

‘Fuel prices have skyrocketed, and of course for many families this [using a car] is not a choice,’ Mr Frydenberg told the ABC on Sunday.

‘These are costs that families are incurring and of course it’s putting real pressure on their household budget,’ he added.  

The cut to the excise follows the New Zealand government’s move to cut the fuel tax for citizens as the cost of living in the country reached ‘crisis’ levels earlier this month.

The Ardern government has also halved public transport fees, which will be reduced along with the cut to the fuel tax, for the next three months.  

New Zealand cut their fuel excise by 25 cents a litre, which will be slightly higher than the expected cut to be introduced by the Australian government on Tuesday. 

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will introduce a ‘significant’ cut to the petrol tax for six months in his fourth budget in response to rising fuel prices. The measure is expected to cut the fuel excise by 10 to 20 cents a litre 

The cut to the excise follows the New Zealand government’s move to cut the fuel tax for citizens as the cost of living situation in the country reached ‘crisis’ levels earlier this month (Pictured: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern) 

The government’s New Home Guarantee Scheme is also being updated in the budget, which will see massive benefits for tens of thousands of Australians looking to buy their first home.

The scheme currently allows first home buyers to enter the market with a 5 per cent deposit without having to pay lenders mortgage insurance. 

Under the new measures the scheme will grow from 20,000 places a year to 50,000 places a year. 

From those 50,000 places, 5,000 will be offered to single parents and 10,000 will be guaranteed to first home buyers or those who have not owned a home in the past five years in regional Australia. 

It comes as the latest ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability report found that saving for a deposit was deemed to be the biggest issue for those trying to enter the property market.

It also estimated that, based on households saving 15 per cent of their gross annual income, it would take a record 10.8 years to save a deposit for a house and nine years for a unit.  

Separate research from the Property Council of Australia found one in five Australians believe purchasing a home was out of their reach even though they expressed their wish to own their own home. 

The survey, which garnered responses from 1,100 people, saw 90 per cent of respondents put down high prices as the biggest barrier to buying a first home.

The government’s New Home Guarantee Scheme is also being updated in the budget, which will see massive benefits for tens of thousands of Australians looking to buy their first home. The scheme will expand from 20,000 places a year to 50,000

Tuesday’s budget will also see another flurry of announcements around small business and apprentices.  

Mr Frydenberg told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program there will be a series of initiatives in the budget to support small business.

There would also be a $44 million program that provides $10,000 for employers who take on seniors with a disability

‘It’s important because these workers with a disability as seniors are very valuable members of our workforce and businesses are incentivised to take them on,’ he said.

The government is also providing $365.3 million to support an extra 35,000 apprentices and trainees get into a job through an extension of its ‘boosting apprenticeship commencements and completing apprenticeship commencements’ wage subsidies.

Apprentice tradies are set to be big winners from the Budget with a scheme that will support getting 35,000 into new jobs (pictured: a construction worker in Sydney in March) 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said by backing apprentices in their training the government is boosting the pipeline of workers Australia is going to need for a stronger economy and a stronger future.

‘These programs deliver certainty for business so they can go and hire another apprentice chef, another apprentice hairdresser, another apprentice plumber. It is about getting Australians skilled and into jobs right now,’ he said in a statement.

Any employer who takes on an apprentice or trainee up until June 30, 2022, can gain access to 50 per cent of the eligible Australian apprentice’s wages in the first year, capped at a maximum payment value of $7000 per quarter.

This reduces to 10 per cent in the second year, capped at a maximum payment value of $1,500 per quarter, and then five per cent in the third year, capped at a maximum payment value of $750 per quarter.