Karen Middleton

So really, we're talking about an extra measure that people would get in their pockets after probably the next election.

So it's a while away.

But the other measure that the government's introduced is this $1,000 instant tax deduction.

And that's aimed at people who are claiming lots of work-related expenses in their tax return.

It's allowing them to claim up to $1,000 without having to provide receipts.

And I guess that's going to be pretty welcome to a lot of people for whom doing the tax is a huge headache.

If you want to claim more than $1,000, you are going to have to provide receipts.

But up to $1,000, you better claim that

instantly, it'll be a faster way to do your tax.

So that's going to appeal to a lot of people, I think.

Treasury's saying that something like 6 million people, working people, are going to benefit from that proposal that makes tax time a little bit easier.

And one of the key things the government is emphasising is that

all the money that it's saving from the tax measures that it's making is going towards funding other tax measures like the tax cuts that it announced a couple of years ago.

So it's talking about a broadly revenue-neutral budget and it's trumpeting the fact that it's re-employing that money to the benefit of the electorate.

Well, that's a very interesting question.

On face value, it looks to me like a political decision.

The government's setting the 2026-27 permanent migration program planning level at 185,000 places, and most of those, over 70%, are going to go to skilled migrants.

They're also going to prioritise applications from people who are already onshore, and those that are offered to offshore applicants...

They are going to be targeting high-skilled migrants with high levels of education.

But there is also an admission in the budget papers that the government's forecast net overseas migration levels have blown out.