For the first time in nearly two decades, the Albanese Government has achieved back-to-back budget surpluses, turning around the nation's finances while delivering cost of living relief for Australians.

The Budget commits more than $39.1 billion to research and development over the next four years, alongside a reformed R&D Tax Incentive, expanded venture capital tax incentives, $1.5 billion for Australia's scientific institutions, and a new National Resilience and Science Council to coordinate Commonwealth innovation investments.

The Budget lifts the Albanese Government's total housing commitment to $47 billion, with a new $2 billion Local Infrastructure Fund to unlock up to 65,000 homes, an extended ban on foreign buyers purchasing established homes to mid-2029, and targeted measures for young people at risk of homelessness and First Nations remote communities.

Australia has implemented historic reforms requiring large multinational companies to pay a minimum 15% tax rate, closing loopholes and strengthening our tax system.

The Albanese Government will introduce a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trust income from 1 July 2028, narrowing a long-standing gap that has allowed families using trusts to split income across relatives and pay tax at lower marginal rates than comparable wage earners.

The Budget delivers a package of regulatory reforms estimated to reduce business and individual compliance costs by $10.2 billion per year once fully implemented, alongside a projected $13 billion per year boost to long-run GDP from building a Single National Market. The reforms span environmental approvals, finance, tax administration, trade, digital services, energy markets, skills, and construction.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers convened an Economic Reform Roundtable from 19-21 August 2025, supported by Productivity Commission interim reports identifying 15 priority reform areas across five pillars.

The Final Budget Outcome for 2024-25 delivered an underlying cash deficit of $10 billion - $18 billion better than forecast - with Standard & Poor's reaffirming Australia's AAA credit rating the following day.

From 1 July 2027, the Albanese Government will limit negative gearing on residential property investments to new builds, refocusing the concession on additions to housing supply. Properties held before Budget night are grandfathered under existing rules.

The Albanese Government inherited a migration system that the Parkinson Review described as "broken" and requiring a decade-long rebuild. Across Labor's first term and into its second, the temporary skilled visa was rebuilt from the ground up, the long-frozen minimum salary was lifted and indexed, sponsored workers gained the right to change jobs without losing their visa, the student-visa channel was tightened, and net overseas migration has fallen more than 40 per cent from its 2023 peak. The 2026-27 Budget, handed down on 12 May 2026, locks in the structural shift.

The Future Made in Australia plan represents one of the largest economic transformations in recent Australian history. The $22.7 billion investment aims to position Australia as a leader in renewable energy while strengthening our industrial and manufacturing capabilities.

The Albanese Government has helped drive inflation to its lowest level in almost four years, with headline inflation now sitting at 2.4% - down from the 6.1% inherited from the previous government.

The 2026-27 Budget records an underlying cash deficit of $31.5 billion (1.0 per cent of GDP), with the fiscal position $44.9 billion stronger over the forward estimates than the December 2025 mid-year update. Gross debt now peaks earlier and lower than previously forecast, and the Government has banked further savings and reprioritisations totalling $63.8 billion in this Budget alone.

The Albanese Government has achieved the lowest average unemployment rate in 50 years, creating over 1.1 million new jobs.

Partially in response to the PwC scandal, and also delivering on an election promise, the Albanese Government has introduced sweeping changes to tax enforcement, delivering record corporate tax receipts and the biggest crackdown on adviser misconduct in Australian history.

The Albanese Labor Government released the National AI Plan on 2 December 2025, setting out a comprehensive strategy to build an AI-enabled economy that is competitive, productive and resilient.

A $15 billion investment fund designed to rebuild Australia's manufacturing capability, create secure jobs, and strengthen economic resilience across seven priority sectors.

After years of wage stagnation, the Albanese Government has delivered five consecutive quarters of real wage growth, while creating more than 1.1 million new jobs and bringing inflation under control.

From 1 July 2027, the Albanese Government will replace the 50 per cent capital gains tax (CGT) discount with cost base indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax on real capital gains, applying prospectively to gains accruing from that date.

The Budget contains more than $3.5 billion in tax relief for businesses and start-ups, with a permanent $20,000 instant asset write-off, the reintroduction of loss carry back, refundability for start-up losses, and a package of administrative simplifications.

The Budget commits $12.1 billion to new transport and community infrastructure investment, including $8.6 billion for nationally significant road and rail projects, $1.75 billion in equity for the national freight rail network, and $841.7 million for community infrastructure programs. The investments sit within a rolling ten-year infrastructure pipeline now valued at more than $120 billion.