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Jurors in the trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins have not been able to reach a verdict and will return for another day of deliberations.

Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and is facing a criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court.

The jury will return for a sixth day of deliberations on Thursday.

On Tuesday afternoon the jury sent a note to the court indicating it was unable to reach a unanimous agreement.

But Chief Justice Lucy McCallum sent them back to the deliberation room, saying experience shows juries are able to reach a decision if given more time.

"I ask you to retire again to see if you can reach a verdict in this trial," she said.

She said they must calmly and objectively listen to each other's opinions and try to reach a unanimous decision.

She reminded them they could not join in a verdict if they did not "honestly and genuinely" think it was the correct one.

Earlier in the week, the jury asked for "a little extra time" and the chief justice assured them there was no rush.

She instructed the jurors to find a verdict according to the evidence presented in the courtroom and said they should not feel pressured to make a decision.

"There's no rush. There's no time limit," she said.

The deliberations followed a 12-day trial where jurors heard from 29 witnesses, including Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash.

Ms Higgins alleges Lehrmann raped her in the parliamentary office of Senator Reynolds when they worked for her as defence industry minister in March 2019. He denies any sexual interaction happened.

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Queensland's chief health officer can no longer order the state's borders shut, cities locked down or vaccines mandated for the general public in response to COVID-19.

State parliament passed laws on Wednesday to repeal most of the emergency powers granted in March 2020 that were due to expire on October 31.

The state's chief health officer, John Gerrard, can no longer order the closure of Queensland's domestic borders or a lockdown, nor mandate quarantine for arrivals or vaccination for the general public.

However, he will be able to order COVID-19 cases to isolate and close contacts to quarantine, and mandate face masks and vaccination in health facilities for another 12 months.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says she hopes the official won't need to exercise any of those powers to contain the virus.

"Hopefully the risks will stay low and we won't need to activate any of the protective measures in the bill over the next 12 months," she told parliament on Wednesday.

"But this is not guaranteed, we cannot simply ignore the risks of COVID and expect the virus to be managed without the controlled scaling down of measures."

Under the new laws, the chief health officer will be able to order people who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate, and those with symptoms to quarantine in one place for up to seven days.

Face mask and vaccination mandates remain able to be enforced in hospitals, disability and other high-risk health settings.

The Queensland Corrective Services commissioner will also have the power to mandate face masks and vaccination for staff and visitors in detention facilities for the next 12 months.

People who fail to comply with these directions face fines of up to $14,375 under the new laws.

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says inflation is a dragon that needs to be slayed, as rocketing power bills and dipping real wages heap pressure on Australians.

Addressing the National Press Club after delivering his first budget on Wednesday, Dr Chalmers said Labor felt for those doing it tough but had to be careful not to add extra inflationary pressure with any cost of living relief.

Households are looking at a spike in prices, with electricity bills forecast to rise an average of 20 per cent this year and 30 per cent in 2023/24.

Gas prices could jump 20 per cent both this financial year and next, according to Treasury.

Wages growth isn't expected to outstrip inflation until at least mid-2024 and the government said measures like child care and paid parental leave will help some families struggling with some cost of living issues.

Dr Chalmers said balancing support measures with the extraordinary level of inflation was a tough act.

"That temptation becomes a lot stronger when you see people hurting ... as a Labor government, as Labor people, we feel that, we care about that, it keeps us awake," he said.

"Whether it's food, whether it's electricity, whether it's rent, inflation is public enemy number one, inflation is the dragon we need to slay."

While the budget papers point to a better-than-expected deficit for 2022/23 of $36.9b, it is on track to blow out to $51.3b in 2024/25.

The economy is forecast to grow 3.25 per cent this financial year but growth will slow sharply to 1.5 per cent in the next financial year.

The treasurer said while there was a rise to GDP expected, fiscal issues lay ahead.

"While the economy is growing, the challenges facing the economy are growing as well," he told parliament.

"The budget that we handed down ... was framed against the backdrop of serious deterioration in the global economy, global energy and price shocks in particular."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected suggestions the government didn't take tough decisions in its first budget after banking almost all of the recent extra revenue driven by higher commodity prices.

"When you've got all this global uncertainty right around the world, your best defence is a good, solid, responsible, sensible budget at home," he told parliament.

"But the budget does more than batten down the hatches against global uncertainty. It also begins to back in families and to build a better future for this country."

But NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said more money needed to be given back to the community because the budget was propped up by soaring coal and gas prices.

"I'm asking them to return some of that to struggling households," he told ABC radio.

Dr Chalmers said the government would consider regulatory steps to ease power prices while acknowledging global factors like the war in Ukraine were adding to the pressure.

"Budgets at their best bring together the global and the local - and on this occasion there is almost no distinction between the two things," he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who will deliver his budget reply speech on Thursday, said the government had broken its election promise to make Australians better off.

He said a typical family would be $2000 worse off by Christmas with inflation, the tax burden, power prices and unemployment all expected to rise under Labor.

Mr Albanese said the budget had focused on "responsible" cost of living support.

© AAP 2022