Live: Treasurer to unveil $6 billion improvement to federal budget

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will today unveil a $6 billion improvement to the federal government's forecast deficit.Follow all the updates in our live blog. Mon 28 Sep 2026 at 7:09amMon 28 Sep 2026 at 7:09amPlibersek defends cost of living assistance ahead of interest rate decisionSocial Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended the Labor's cost of living assistance ahead of an expected interest rate hike tomorrow.The Reserve Bank will announce its interest rate decision yesterday, with the continuing Middle East war expected to factor into the decision.Speaking to Channel Seven with One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, Plibersek has spruiked Labor's efforts to increase bulk billing and lower prescription costs."The fundamentals of the Australian economy are very strong and what we want to do is take those day to day pressures off Australians. We're doing that," Plibersek says.Asked how Joyce would make people's lives better, the One Nation MP says he would stop spending money on renewable energy."Our inflation rate is the highest of the developed countries. Let's just get that correct. The highest in developed countries. And that's making people poorer," Joyce says.But pressed on what policies One Nation brings, Joyce has raised the idea of refurbishing every coal-fired power station."Well, you can't do much better than Snowy Hydro 2.0. I'll say Malcolm Turnbull's baby is going to cost $2 billion, now it's $42 billion. You could have refurbished every power station in Australia with that money that."Mon 28 Sep 2026 at 7:07amMon 28 Sep 2026 at 7:07amTreasurer set to unveil $6 billion boost to federal budgetTreasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher are today set to unveil a $6 billion improvement to the federal budget.The Final Budget Outcome for 2025-26 is expected to show deficit $6 billion lower than the $28.3 billion deficit forecast in the budget in May.The announcement comes just a day before the Reserve Bank of Australia looks set to increase interest rates for the fourth time this year.Labor has consistently pointed to gross debt as a percentage of GDP being lower than other major advanced economies such as the US, Canada and the UK.Mon 28 Sep 2026 at 6:55amMon 28 Sep 2026 at 6:55amGood morning 👋Hello and welcome to our federal politics live blog! It's great to have you join us here on the federal politics live blog.I'm Josh Boscaini joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra, here and ready to bring you all of today's federal politics news.First up, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to unveil a $6 billion boost to the federal government's forecast deficit today.We might also get some more reaction and fallout from that OpenAI agent hack of a Medicare statistics portal announced last week.Let's strap in and get this show on the road!