Lower taxes, cheaper fuel and home-buying help are among the sugar hits on offer at this year’s election.
Labor has promised to reduce the lowest tax rate from 16% to 14% over two years while the Coalition is offering a 25c deduction of fuel tax for a year. Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton announced competing housing policies that share the same goal – to help first home buyers to get a foot on the property ladder – even if economists agree they would increase house prices.
And while the 2025 campaign kicked off with some big announcements on Medicare – that were quickly matched – both major parties have worked hard to keep the focus on cost-of-living issues, leaving some big policy areas such as energy, education and welfare barely rating a mention.
So what are Labor, the Coalition and the Greens promising? Here’s what you need to know.
Energy, climate and environment
Labor
Provide an additional $150 in energy bill relief by extending subsidies for all households and 1m small businesses until 2025. The Coalition matched this policy.
Electricity grid target of 82% renewables and emissions reduction target of 43% lower than 2005 levels by 2030.
No 2035 emissions reduction target yet.
$2.3bn to reduce the cost of household batteries by 30% which could save households about $4,000 on a typical battery.
Abandoned a 2022 election commitment to establish an environment protection agency in this term but say they will look at it again if re-elected but “not the same model”.
Coalition
Introduce an east coast reservation scheme requiring LNG producers to set aside more supply for domestic use.
Resuscitate Scott Morrison’s 2022 policy to halve the 50.8 cent fuel excise for 12 months from July, at an estimated cost of $6bn.
Allow the Capacity Investment scheme to invest in gas projects, allocate $1bn for gas infrastructure and impose “use-it-or-lose” rules for gas drilling companies.
Propose to build seven nuclear power plants and two small modular reactors at a cost of $331bn over 25 years. Coal and gas to remain part of the energy mix while a nuclear industry is developed and the roll-out of renewables would be slowed down.
Net zero by 2050 target, which the Climate Change Authority says is impossible under the nuclear plan. No medium-term emissions target for 2030 or 2035 before the election.
Opposed to an environment protection agency.
Greens
Net zero emissions target by 2035 or sooner.
Stop all new coal and gas projects.
A nationwide ban on native forest logging, which is a key demand for their support of Labor’s environment protection laws.
Remove fossil fuel subsidies and increase investment in renewable energy.
Housing
Labor
Allocate $10bn to help build 100,000 properties reserved for first home buyers.
Open up to all first home buyers the first home guarantee scheme allowing people to secure a home with only a 5% deposit and avoid mortgage insurance.
Continue the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund to help build 30,000 affordable homes within five years, with two-thirds of new developments designated for social housing.
Construct 1.2m homes by 2030 via deal with states and $90m allocated to train more builders.
Help to Buy scheme allows the government to loan 30% of the purchase price, or 40% on new builds, for those who earn less than $90,000, provided money is paid back upon sale.
Coalition
Allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to claim mortgage payments as an income tax deduction for five years, up to the first $650,000 of a mortgage on a new-build.
Opposed to Labor’s Housing Future Fund and will repeal the Help to Buy scheme.
Let people access $50,000 of their superannuation to buy their first home, provided the money is returned when the home is sold to support retirement.
Changes to the national construction code would be blocked for a decade and $5bn will go towards infrastructure at new housing development sites, potentially creating up to 500,000 homes.
Greens
Wind back negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts for investors with more than one investment property.
Impose a rent freeze and establish a national renters protection agency.
Create a government-owned developer to build and sell or rent affordable housing stock.
Health
Labor
$8.5bn pledge to improve bulk billing rates and train more GPs and nurses.
$1bn for mental health including $500m for 20 youth specialist care centres, $225m for 31 new and upgraded Medicare mental health centres, and $200m for expanding or starting 58 Headspace centres.
$573m policy to improve women’s health and access to contraceptives.
$644m to open 50 new bulk-billing urgent care clinics across Australia by 2026.
Reduce the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script, costing $689m. This was immediately matched by the Coalition.
Coalition
Will match Labor’s $8.5bn program to improve bulk billing rates as well as its $573m women’s health policy.
Will open at least four new urgent care clinics but say they will announce more details on this policy during the election.
$500m to double the amount of subsidised mental health sessions, extending a pandemic era policy. Provide an extra $400m for youth mental health services.
Will pay for these promises by cutting thousands of public service jobs.
Greens
Cover dental and mental health under Medicare.
Ensure GP visits are free.
Build 1,000 new public healthcare clinics where you can see a GP, dentist, nurse or psychologist at no cost.
Pay for this expansion of Medicare by taxing big corporations more.
Tax
Labor
$1,000 tax deduction for workplace expenses on your annual return without having to produce receipts or paperwork.
Reduce the lowest tax rate from 16% to 15% from the middle of 2026, leaving taxpayers $268 better off, and then again to 14% from 2027, taking the benefit to $538. The policy will cost $17bn and has been passed by parliament but the Coalition has vowed to repeal it if they win.
Coalition
Low and middle-income earners will get a one-off tax refund of up to $1,200 to help with the cost of living, at a cost of $10bn.
Allow interest fees on mortgages to be offset against tax, for up to five years for the first $650,000 of a loan for first home buyers purchasing new builds. It would be available to single people earning up to $175,000 and joint applicants with a combined income of $250,000.
Cut the tax on fuel by 25c a litre for one year.
Greens
Introduce a 40% tax on excess profits for big corporations with over $100m in turnover.
Introduce a 10% tax on the net wealth of Australia’s 150 billionaires.
Education
Labor
Cut 20% of all student loan debt. Graduates will also be able to earn more before they start repaying.
Create 500,000 fee-free Tafe places.
Appoint an independent tertiary education commission to act as a steward for higher education reform.
Provide 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to every public school by 2034.
Coalition
Wants universities to focus on core academic instruction and research “rather than political agendas”, including an Australian Universities Performance Index.
Implement an antisemitism taskforce led by the Australian federal police and a national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism.
Reinstate the 50% pass rule for student loan eligibility, which was scrapped by Labor.
Implement a “tougher international student cap” than what was proposed by Labor.
Reverse changes to the Australian Research Council’s grants processes.
Greens
Provide 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to every public school by July 2025.
Create a capital grants fund that will disperse $1.25bn in its first year, and $350m annually after that, for public schools to invest in infrastructure.
$388m for schools to buy and install an air ventilation system and Hepa filter, as well as a carbon dioxide monitor, in each classroom and indoor communal space.
