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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Olivia Ireland

Hopes are high for eased cost of living in federal budget

The Julias family from Bonner: Andi, Anabelle, 15, Dominic, 9, and Ida. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong

Like many, the Julias family is feeling the pinch of increased cost of living and hopeful for some relief in the federal budget.

The federal budget is expected to include a cost of living package, which some economists believe will be $4 billion in size.

For the Julias family from Bonner - Andi, Ida, Anabelle, 15, and Dominic, 9 - this can't come soon enough.

"For us the cost of living is going pretty high and I know that it's going be bad, especially with petrol at the moment," Mr Julias said.

"As a family we're fortunate enough that we still have some secure and steady jobs and we can still afford doing what we're doing as long as our respective jobs are still secure."

While Mr Julias said the increased cost of living hadn't led to drastic changes in their lifestyle, they had begun thinking about their priorities for how their money is spent, such as avoiding going to restaurants or buying excessively.

"Cost of living is going up but salary is not going up. They're not always parallel," he said.

Mrs Julias acknowledged major global events such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have played a role in making things a bit more difficult, and said she was eager to see what the government had to offer in the upcoming budget.

"I'm just hoping that the government will consider the family and if possible maybe put the price of petrol down a little bit," she said.

"I work in Deakin and live in Bonner so it's actually half an hour drive, so I'm a bit concerned. There's nothing that we can do except hope we'll see some support from the government."

The election is a factor that Mr Julias notes will likely dictate the direction of this budget. He looks at it as an opportunity for voters like himself to win from the politicians' motivation.

"The Liberals are trying to put in effort, and obviously Labor is going to also propose something else, so I mean the timing is good for us - but obviously I'm not going to say 'Hey, great', because we haven't seen that yet," Mr Julias said.

For the Julias family, tax cuts are something they would like to see in order to have more disposable income in the coming years.

Mrs Julias currently has one job casually at the Canberra Private Hospital, while Mr Julias has three to cover the cost of living with two children.

"One job is full-time and then the other two is sort of giving back to the community, because I'm teaching in CIT and the other one is also just working casually - but when I look at it, obviously the tax is pretty high," he said.

Healthcare is another important priority for the Julias family, specifically better coverage under Medicare to help keep their family healthy at an affordable and sustainable rate.

"As we grow, a family of four, yes we're healthy for the moment, which is great, but then again in the future there is always things coming up," Mr Julias said.

While Mr Julias would welcome payments, he doesn't see a subsidy as a long-term solution and wants the government to "actually look into the root of the problem" when it comes to cost of living and fix systemic issues.

"If they can maintain or bring down the cost of living in terms of increased costs of vegetables, fruits and meat then that will affect all of us positively," he said.

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