Door open to pre-election welfare hikes beyond new $12b spend

Door open to pre-election welfare hikes beyond new $12b spend
Pattrick Smellie
The government is leaving the door open to election year announcements of increases in benefit levels and tax relief for working families over and above the $12 billion of new infrastructure spending announced today. The $12 billion, five-year package of new capital spending leaves the government well within its self-imposed upper limit for net government debt at 25 percent of gross domestic product. That is a five percentage point increase on the Budget responsibility rules that have operated since the government was formed in 2017. T...

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