Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled the 2025 Federal Budget on March 25, touting it as a fiscally responsible plan that balances cost-of-living relief with economic resilience. A key pillar of the pitch is $17.1 billion in new tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, starting July 2026, which Chalmers claims will top up existing relief while being funded through careful savings. On X, he boasted, “We’re delivering two new tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer… a bit of extra help” that builds on cuts from July 2024. The government says it’s clawed back $95 billion over three years through “budget repair,” redirecting funds to priorities like these tax breaks. But while Labor highlights supposed savings, a closer look reveals a pattern of waste that undermines their narrative.
Where They Claim the Money Is Being Saved
Labor’s budget papers point to several areas where they’ve trimmed fat to fund initiatives like the $17.1 billion tax cuts and $150 energy bill rebates. They’ve delayed $4.6 billion in infrastructure spending over five years, pushing projects like road upgrades into the future to ease immediate pressure. Another $3.9 billion comes from lower-than-expected National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) costs, thanks to tighter eligibility and slower rollout. A stronger jobs market has also reduced Jobseeker payments by $616 million, while lower debt interest payments save $424 million. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher emphasised this “reprioritisation” in a March 25 ABC interview, arguing it’s about “making room” for relief without blowing out the deficit further.
Chalmers also touts broader “budget repair” efforts since 2022, claiming $95 billion in savings by cutting unspecified programs and banking windfalls from high commodity prices and low unemployment. The budget speech leaned hard into this, with Chalmers calling it “responsible economic management” that delivered two surpluses before this year’s $42.1 billion deficit. The message? They’re saving where it counts to give taxpayers a break.
How Money Is Being Wasted
Contrast that with the glaring waste littering Labor’s track record, especially in education—a sector they claim as a top priority. Take the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA), a promised $16.5 billion deal with states to boost public school funding. The budget papers only account for $7.6 billion so far, with states like Victoria and Queensland still unsigned as of March 26, 2025. Negotiations dragged on, and one state only inked the deal a day before the budget. This isn’t savings—it’s inefficiency. Money allocated sits idle while kids miss out, and private schools, unaffected, keep their funding intact. It’s a slow-motion fiasco that reeks of mismanagement.
Then there’s the precedent of Labor’s school infrastructure blunders. Remember the air conditioning fiasco? Billions were spent installing units in every classroom, but many sat unused because schools lacked the electrical capacity to run them. Upgrading street power grids cost even more, ballooning the price tag. History repeated itself with the interactive whiteboard rollout a decade ago. Hundreds of millions went into high-tech boards, but without teacher training or reliable internet, they became expensive wall art. In some districts, only 20% were operational a year later, forcing another round of spending to fix the oversight. These aren’t one-offs—they’re a pattern of throwing cash at flashy ideas without planning the landing.
The 2025 budget itself isn’t immune. That $17.1 billion tax cut—$268 in 2026 and $536 in 2027 for the average earner—sounds nice, but critics like Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie call it “disgusting” and “lazy,” arguing it disproportionately benefits higher earners who don’t need it. Meanwhile, the deficit jumps to $42.1 billion in 2025-26, and net debt climbs to 23.1% of GDP by 2028-29. Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor slammed it as a “spending splurge” on ABC’s 7.30, pointing to 41,000 extra public servants since Labor took office—a cost he says inflates the red ink. Add in $1 billion in unannounced spending decisions held back for the election campaign, and the “savings” start looking like a shell game.
The Disconnect
Labor wants credit for fiscal discipline, but the contrast is stark. Delaying infrastructure might save $4.6 billion now, but it just kicks the can down a road that’ll cost more to pave later. Lower NDIS spending sounds prudent until you realise it’s partly because people who need help aren’t getting it fast enough. And those tax cuts? They’re funded by a budget that’s “96% spent” on new measures, per The Guardian, leaving little buffer for global shocks like Trump’s tariffs—which Chalmers himself flagged as a “storm cloud.”
Meanwhile, education waste piles up. The BFSA’s half-baked rollout mirrors the aircon and whiteboard flops—big promises, poor delivery. If Labor can’t wire a school properly, why trust them with $17.1 billion in tax relief? The savings they brag about are dwarfed by a legacy of mismanagement so blatant it’s hard not to wonder if it’s intentional. Taxpayers get a few bucks back, sure, but they’re still footing the bill for a government that can’t stop tripping over its own grand plans.