Daily London
The rebates were introduced in the 2024 federal budget, providing all households with $300 off their bills over the course of a year at a cost of $3.5 billion.
Chalmers then found an extra $1.8 billion to extend the measure in this year’s budget for another two quarters – or $150 per household – taking the total spend to more than $5 billion.
But with the rebates due to expire at the end of the year, and inflation rising – driven in large part by electricity prices – the government has been facing questions about whether they will be extended once again.
Chalmers said today that that decision was yet to be made, and suggested that an announcement on the policy will be made as part of the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO).
“The mid-year budget update will be towards the middle of December, as it has been on the last couple of occasions,” the treasurer told reporters this afternoon.
“We’ll take a decision about electricity rebates in the context of finalising that mid-year budget update.”
Chalmers warned, though, that regardless of the decision made over the next fortnight or so, the rebates will eventually come to an end.
“They are a really important way that we are helping Australians with the cost of living, taking some of the edge off these electricity price pressures that people are encountering,” he said.
“They’re a really important part of our budget, but they’re not a permanent feature of our budget, and we’ve made that clear.”
