Jim Chalmers’ budget tips the scales in favour of younger and less well-off households – but it’s middle-class gen X that are turning to the rightwing party Explore all of our 2026 Australia federal budget coverage Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor’s fifth budget will do what it says on the tin: it will benefit the young and the poor at the expense of the older and the rich. This is the most obvious takeaway from distributional analysis conducted by Ben Phillips, an associate professor at the Australian National University’s Centre for Social Policy Research. Continue reading...