CANBERRA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Saturday promised the next federal budget will prioritize addressing entrenched disadvantages for vulnerable communities.
Ahead of handing down his second budget in May, Chalmers revealed he and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth are working to identify Australia's most vulnerable communities and how resources can be pooled to make a "meaningful difference."
The previous budget -- the first from the Labor Party in a decade after it won power in May's election in 2022 -- focused on austerity amid a cost of living crisis but the treasurer has flagged additional spending in May.
Chalmers told the Guardian Australia that tackling systematic disadvantages was a passion dating back to his upbringing in the working class suburbs of Brisbane -- the area he represents in Parliament.
"If you want to shift the needle on poverty and disadvantage, and it's such a big, national challenge, the best way to start is to find out where those challenges are most acute," he said.
"The best way to shift the needle on entrenched disadvantage is to go where it's most prevalent. There's a lot of great work going on around the community in the philanthropic sector and other places around this. And we want to show some leadership here if we can."
He said one of the main things in the May Budget will be energy bill relief, and that is deliberately targeted at people on fixed payments and low incomes. ■