Can Albanese hold his nerve when the angry Boomers come for him?

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The 2026 budget is shaping up to be one of the most unusual Australia has seen in two decades. It’s also a step change for Labor in the sense that Anthony Albanese and his team are about to do something they’ve mostly avoided doing for the past four years in government – spending a considerable amount of political capital in one hit.

The savings outlined for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the expected reduction in the capital gains and negative gearing tax breaks for investors – which the prime minister has previously opposed – are a big deal.

Typically, in the weeks leading up to a federal budget, stories begin to appear that reveal the government of the day is preparing to boost spending on healthcare, deliver a tax cut or target dole bludgers or double-dippers or some other “unworthy” type. In the past 20 years or so, it’s hard to recall a pre-budget period that has been so dominated by discussion of both structural savings that will be implemented, such as with the NDIS, and revenue-raising measures such as the looming tax changes.

The government is making a deliberate choice: this budget will create losers (not in the pejorative sense) who will quite reasonably be able to claim they are worse off after the changes, or eventually will be. Making such decisions is not what any government wants to do; even when tough measures are taken, they are often played down rather than highlighted.

Joe Hockey’s first budget in 2014 was an exception, as it tried to make a virtue of being hairy-chested and went just about as hard as this Jim Chalmers budget looks likely to do, with savings in portfolios........

© Brisbane Times