SYDNEY — The ink’s barely dry on the Labor government’s latest budget, and young Australians are already staring down the barrel of a financial mess they didn’t make. On April 16, Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled the 2025-26 federal budget, a sprawling document that’s got economists and analysts whispering a grim phrase: intergenerational theft. The gist? Today’s policies are piling debt and obligations onto the backs of younger generations, who’ll be stuck footing the bill for decades.
The numbers don’t lie. The budget papers project a deficit of $28.3 billion for 2025-26, a slight dip from last year’s $36.1 billion, but still a far cry from the surplus Labor once promised. Gross debt is set to climb to $1.1 trillion by 2029, or 38.2% of GDP, according to the Australian Office of Financial Management. That’s a hefty tab for a population of just 26 million, and it’s the under-35s who’ll be paying it off through higher taxes and slower growth down the line. A report from the Parliamentary Budget Office, released April 10, spells it out: future generations will face a structural deficit of 2% of GDP by 2040 unless major reforms kick in.
Labor’s big-ticket spending isn’t helping. The budget ramps up funding for aged care, with $2.7 billion over five years to boost nursing home staff and home-care packages. Fair enough—boomers need support. But younger workers, already squeezed by a housing crisis and stagnant wages, get little relief. A measly $1.9 billion for skills training and apprenticeships, announced on April 20 by the Department of Employment, feels like a drop in the bucket when youth unemployment sits at 9.7%, per the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ March figures. Meanwhile, the government’s doubling down on net-zero subsidies, funneling $22.7 billion into green energy projects by 2035. Noble? Sure. But the Grattan Institute’s April 23 report warns that energy transition costs could hit younger taxpayers hardest, with electricity prices projected to rise 15% by 2030.
Housing, the great Australian dream, remains a nightmare for the young. The budget allocates $1 billion for social housing, but that’s a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. CoreLogic’s April data shows median home prices in Sydney and Melbourne hovering at $1.1 million and $780,000, respectively—impossible for most millennials and Gen Zers scraping by on $60,000 salaries. Labor’s Help to Buy scheme, spruiked since 2022, finally got a $250 million kickstart on April 18, but it’s capped at 10,000 places annually. Good luck getting in. The Reserve Bank’s April 15 statement didn’t mince words: high interest rates, stuck at 4.35%, are here to stay, keeping mortgages out of reach for first-timers.
Then there’s superannuation, a sore point for anyone under 40. The government’s decision to freeze the super guarantee at 11.5% until 2027, confirmed in the budget, means less retirement savings for young workers already stretched thin. Compare that to the $3.6 billion in tax concessions for high-income retirees, flagged in a March 30 Treasury paper, and it’s not hard to see who’s getting the better deal. The Intergenerational Report, tabled in parliament on April 2, projects that by 2063, public spending on pensions and healthcare will soar to 17.3% of GDP, up from 12.1% today. Guess who’ll be taxed to cover it? Not the folks cashing out now.
Young Australians aren’t blind to the math. University students, tradies, and baristas alike are starting to feel the squeeze of a system that seems rigged to favor the old and the wealthy. Labor’s rhetoric about “building a future for all” rings hollow when the fine print points to a generation left holding the bag. The budget’s focus on short-term relief—like $300 energy rebates for every household, announced April 16—does little for those who can’t even afford a lease.
The facts are stark. Debt’s climbing. Housing’s a pipe dream. Super’s skewed. And the tax burden’s shifting to those least equipped to carry it. For young Australians, the 2025 budget isn’t just a policy document—it’s a glimpse of a future where they’re working harder, longer, for less.