Federal Budget 2026: The one thing Aussies want the most from tonight’s Budget is cheaper groceries

Big changes ahead for capital gains tax and negative gearing may have dominated the pre-Budget headlines, but a new survey released just hours before Treasurer Jim Chalmers stands up in Parliament has revealed what voters really want. Cheaper groceries. Almost seven in 10 people surveyed by iSelect ranked it as the most important Budget measure for households already feeling the strain of higher fuel prices and a third-straight interest rate hike from the Reserve Bank. Energy bill relief/rebates came in a close second, with 64 per cent of respondents calling for extra help. Most also picked cheaper fuel/transport costs (54 per cent) among their top priorities for Dr Chalmers. The US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran has put the squeeze on global oil supply, driving up costs for grocery suppliers who have been pleading with supermarket giants such as Coles and Woolworths to lift prices to recoup the extra expense. The nation’s two biggest grocers aren’t the only ones struggling to keep costs down in the face on ongoing fuel strain. Inghams — a major supplier to McDonald’s, KFC, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Metcash and Subway — on Monday warned chicken fillets, nuggets and burgers could soon be more expensive. Metcash — which supplies more than 1600 independently-owned stores in Australia across the IGA and Foodland brands — says it has increased inventory levels by about $80 million as a precaution against potential stock shortages. Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour Group last week went one further, spending an extra $400m to bolster its inventory. In a worrying sign for the Albanese Government’s sale of the Budget so far, the iSelect survey found two-thirds of respondents were either “not very confident” or “not confident at all” that it will improve their household’s financial position over the next 12 months. Just 6 per cent said they were “very confident” it would. Dr Chalmers will need to walk a fine line between keeping voters happy with cost-of-living relief and offering any handouts that could send already hot inflation even higher and force the RBA to squeeze mortgage holders even harder to rein in spending. The Treasurer has repeatedly denied government spending is exacerbating inflation, pointing to activity in the private sector. Even still, on Monday he insisted Labor would be cutting spending and find $64 billion in savings — including redirected spending — to cope with the Middle East conflict fuelling inflation. “We’ve been able to focus on the particular pressures and developments coming at us from the war in the Middle East — obviously, those are the new bits,” he told Bloomberg TV. “We had some inflationary pressures before the war in the Middle East but the war has made them much more substantial. “That’s why we will be forecasting an increase in inflation, a bit like the Reserve Bank has been forecasting. “The inflationary challenges are serious, they are a big focus of the Budget — $64b in gross savings is much more than the usual amount of savings in an Australian Budget.”