The annual federal Budget, outlining the government's taxation and spending plans for the next year, is supposed to be shrouded in secrecy until the big reveal on Budget night. However "pre-Budget drops" by the government to various media organisations always reveal part of the surprise ahead of time. Here's what we know the government will announce in the 2018 Budget on Tuesday:
1. Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts
People earning $87,000 or less are likely to get between $5 and $10 extra per week in their pay, according to estimates from the Australian Financial Review. On Sky News on Sunday, finance minister Mathias Cormann confirmed there would be "tax relief" for low and middle income earners. On Nine News, treasurer Scott Morrison said that the tax cuts wouldn't be "mammoth".
Morrison has already said that tax should be limited to 23.9% of gross domestic product, but The Australian has reported that the government would write the limit into budget rules and make it official Coalition policy.
It's designed to try and wedge Labor, which at the moment has higher taxing policies, including cracking down on negative gearing and capital gains.
2. Great Barrier Reef funding
In late April the government announced $500 million to go to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to reduce pollution into, and restore, the reef.
3. Captain Cook statue
Amid the ongoing culture war over captain James Cook statues, the government announced $50 million towards revamping the Botany Bay site in Sydney to mark where Europeans and Indigenous Australians first encountered one another. The revamp will include another statue of James Cook and will be completed before the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's arrival in 2020.
4. There won't be an increase in the Medicare Levy.
The Medicare Levy was set to go up by 0.5% for everyone who pays it, in order to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), but because of the unexpected rise in tax receipts in the past few months, the government has opted not to go ahead with this.
Some disability advocates are concerned about this, however, because it means that funding for the NDIS is not locked in to the Budget, and thus remains uncertain and subject to the ebbs and flows of tax revenue.
5. Craft beer brewers get a tax cut.
Morrison announced last week that craft brewers and distilleries will get tax relief via the government increasing the amount beverage companies can claim back on excise from $30,000 per year to $100,000 per year. The concessional draught beer excise rate will be extended to smaller kegs, which is what smaller brewing companies tend to use.
But this isn't to be read as "cheap beer coming soon". One of the brewers at the announcement last week said that there was an "opportunity for the cost of beer to come down" but businesses could also reinvest the savings back into the business.
6. School chaplains
The Australian has reported that the $240 million program to put around 2,300 (mostly Christian) chaplains in schools around Australia will be renewed in the Budget, after 30 conservative Coalition backbenchers signed a petition asking for the funding to be renewed.
The new funding for the counselling service for students is reported to be tied to a focus on anti-bullying programs.
The program has been around since 2006, but when in government Labor opened it up to non-religious youth workers. When he was prime minister, Tony Abbott reversed that policy and now only religiously-affiliated chaplains can be selected by schools.
7. $140 million for films in Australia
Foreign minister Julie Bishop (on the right, next to Batman) announced last week that $140 million would go to encourage film makers to film their blockbusters in Australia. The government has estimated that it would bring $260 million in new foreign investment into Australia and create 3,000 jobs.
8. Tobacco crackdown.
The government is chasing down missing revenue on tobacco with a new "Illicit Tobacco Taskforce" led by the Australian Border Force, home affairs minister Peter Dutton and financial services minister Kelly O'Dwyer announced on Sunday.
It's aimed at cracking down on tobacco illegally entering Australia, and the illegal market in so-called "chop chop" tobacco.
9. Whooping cough vaccine for pregnant women
The government will fund a free vaccination against whooping cough for every pregnant woman in Australia from July 1,2018, in a $39.5 million program.
10. Mental health funding
There will be lots of funding for mental health programs in this year's budget, including $3.9 million in mental health support for people from multicultural backgrounds, $33.8 million for Lifeline, and $84 million for mental health nurses in the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
11. A drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy in kids will be listed on the PBS
Hunt announced that Spinraza, used to treat spinal muscular atrophy, will be listed on the PBS for people aged under 18, and will bring the cost of the drug down from hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to $40. The listing will cost over $240 million, according to the ABC.
12. Roads, rail, roads, rail, roads
A lot of this Budget appears to be devoted to infrastructure. So far the PM has announced billions in funding for roads and rail projects, including:
- $5 billion for a rail line to Melbourne airport
- $400 million to duplicate the Port Botany Rail line in Sydney
- $3.2 billion for roads and rail projects in Western Australia, including extending the Mitchell Freeway, funding constructions and extensions on Metronet, and Tonkin Highway improvements.
- $1.6 billion for the Bruce Highway in Queensland
13. SPACE!
The ABC reported last week that the government will have "seed funding" of $50 million to establish a dedicated space agency in Australia.
Check out all the reaction to the Budget on @BuzzFeedOzPol's new live Twitter show at 11am on Wednesday.