The federal government’s subsidy for electricity bills will not be extended into next year, Jim Chalmers has announced.
The discount of $75 per quarter for all households will instead end in December as planned, in what the treasurer said was a “hard” decision made by the cabinet in recognition of “pressure on the budget”.
“We’ve been up-front with people and said that these were never going to be a permanent feature of the budget,” he said.
The subsidy, which began in mid-2023, was directly applied to energy bills and was complemented by subsidies from state and territory governments. Some small businesses were also eligible.
Initially funded for just one year, the program was twice extended as cost of living pressures remained acute.
There had been some speculation it would be extended again, but Mr Chalmers said it was “the right decision” to move on, framing it as a decision to shift from “temporary help” to “permanent” measures such as tax cuts.
“[The decision] recognises that there is more than one way to provide this cost of living relief that people still need in their household budgets,” he said.
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