Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has acknowledged that the housing market and tax system are 'not working for a lot of Australians,' ahead of his budget speech scheduled for later today. Speaking to reporters, Chalmers said the budget would include measures to address the factors driving support for the right-wing One Nation party, which has seen a surge in recent polls.
Chalmers stated that the government is focused on making housing more affordable and reforming tax policies to benefit working families. The budget is expected to include new spending on social housing and incentives for first-home buyers, though specific details have not been confirmed. The treasurer emphasized that the current system is failing many Australians, particularly younger generations struggling to enter the property market.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, hackers responsible for a data breach at Canvas, a popular learning management system, have agreed to destroy stolen data after negotiations with cybersecurity experts. The breach, which affected thousands of users, had raised concerns about data privacy. The hackers' agreement to delete the data comes after a ransom demand was reportedly not paid, though authorities have not confirmed this.
The budget speech is expected to be delivered at 7:30 PM AEST, with Chalmers outlining the government's economic priorities for the coming year. The opposition has criticized the government for not doing enough to address cost-of-living pressures, but Chalmers defended the budget as a responsible plan for the future.
