The Coalition says the spending cuts it has proposed so far would save $31 billion over four years, and more than half of that would come from climate policies.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and shadow treasurer Tim Wilson released a partial costings update on Monday 26 October. ABC News reported the package at $31.3 billion, costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
The cuts are an opposition pledge, not law.
Where the Money Comes From
The biggest share is climate policy. According to ABC News, $9.4 billion would come from ditching the new vehicle efficiency standard, the EV discount, home battery subsidies, the net zero advisory body, some ARENA functions and Scope 3 emissions reporting.
Another $7.3 billion would come from ending subsidies for green aluminium, hydrogen, critical minerals and other industry support through the National Reconstruction Fund, ABC News reported.
On housing, scrapping Help to Buy, the social housing fund, build-to-rent tax incentives and payments to states that meet housing targets would save $4.7 billion.
Stripping welfare and NDIS eligibility from permanent residents and other non-citizens would save $2 billion. Cutting the tobacco excise and legalising vapes, which the Coalition had already announced, accounts for $7.9 billion, according to ABC News.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Coalition also plans to end the safeguard mechanism, while the Clean Energy Finance Corporation would survive. In June 2025, Buzzline reported Dan Tehan’s view that the Coalition’s net zero goal depended on cost.
What It Pays For
Taylor called the savings a “down payment” for tax cuts, ABC News reported.
“It is absolutely critical at this time to control spending,” Taylor said, according to ABC News.
The savings comfortably offset the $9.7 billion cost of the Coalition’s plan to index tax brackets and scrap the $250 workers’ tax offset, ABC News reported, but are unlikely to cover its other commitments.
Wilson tied the spending argument to home loans. “The government is absolutely addicted to spending and [that is why] Australian household mortgage rates are going up,” he said, according to ABC News.
“This treasurer and prime minister have run out of ideas,” Taylor said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Dissent and the Government’s Reply
The climate cuts drew criticism from inside the party. “It is a sad day for the Liberal Party that [it] has now repudiated its once-proud policy tradition of a commitment to a healthy environment,” Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan said, the Herald reported.
The government says the Coalition is still $110 billion in the red once unfunded promises are counted, the Herald reported.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said calls for cuts did not “confront the reality of what the Commonwealth budget now funds”, according to the Herald.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government would outline fresh savings in December, ABC News reported.
The Rate Backdrop
The Reserve Bank board meets on Tuesday 3 November, Melbourne Cup Day, to consider the cash rate, ABC News and the Herald reported.
On Friday 23 October, Buzzline reported that Chalmers had flagged weaker growth and higher unemployment as markets eyed a November rate rise.
What the Costings Leave Out
The document is incomplete. According to ABC News, it leaves out the cost of the migration cuts and the pledge to scrap Labor’s tax changes.
Opposition costings are usually finalised close to an election, ABC News reported. Until then, the $31 billion covers only the cuts the Coalition has costed so far.
More federal coverage is in Buzzline’s Politics section.
Sources: ABC News, “Coalition says cuts to climate, housing and more would save $31b”, 26 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-26/coalition-says-cuts-to-save-budget-31-billion/107310512); The Sydney Morning Herald, “In inflation battle, Taylor gambles on retreat from climate policy”, 26 October 2026 (https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/in-inflation-battle-taylor-gambles-on-retreat-from-climate-policy-20261026-p618my.html)
Photo: Chris Olszewski, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: Parliament House in Canberra, where the Coalition released its costings. The photograph was taken in March 2022 and is used for illustration.
