Anthony Albanese hints at what’s to come in the upcoming federal budget

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to extend a helping hand to struggling small businesses in the upcoming federal budget.

Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses are expected to take center stage as the Prime Minister makes a pre-budget pitch.

“Helping Australian families and small family businesses with their energy bills was a top priority in last year’s Budget,” Anthony Albanese will tell a small business summit on Thursday.

“And as we put together next month’s budget, small businesses and families will once again be at the center of our thinking.”

No specific policy measures will be outlined, but the Prime Minister will discuss the benefits of rooftop solar and batteries as a ‘smart investment that delivers important returns for businesses on tight margins’.

“One in three small businesses with solar is a good start – and I am confident that with the right investment and support and continued advances in technology, that number will continue to rise,” he will say.

Cost-of-living relief is planned for the federal budget due to be approved on May 14, although the treasurer has warned there will be no generous cash handouts that risk fueling inflation.

Albanese’s speech follows a speech by Peter Dutton on Wednesday, in which the Opposition Leader described Labor’s industrial relations changes and “sustainable energy only policy” as working against small businesses.

He also cited nuclear technology as an opportunity to boost competition and productivity by lowering energy costs.

Mr Albanese will say his government’s energy response is focused on proven technologies that will “make a difference here and now”.

“You heard from the Opposition Leader yesterday about his plan to build nuclear reactors somewhere along the east coast, sometime before 2050, at a cost of somewhere in the hundreds of billions of dollars,” the Prime Minister will say.

‘Solar energy is reliable, fast and affordable. Especially in combination with storage.’

The Prime Minister will also defend his government’s industrial relations changes, including a pathway for informal workers to gain permanent employment if they wish.

“Our government is pro-business and pro-workers,” he will say, recognizing that without employers there can be no “good jobs, fair wages or decent conditions for workers.”

“That is the constructive and balanced approach we have tried to implement in our industrial relations reforms.”

Brad Jones, Assistant Governor of the Reserve Bank, will also address the small business event.