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Jim Chalmers has paved the way for more difficult decisions after handing down his first budget.

The treasurer said tough conversations are needed to rein in debt during global economic uncertainty.

Households are also facing higher power prices, with a 50 per cent rise in retail electricity prices forecast over the next two years.

Dr Chalmers said the government was exercising restraint in cost-of-living relief to avoid adding to rising inflation, which is tipped to peak at 7.75 per cent by the end of the year.

"Everything needs to make a contribution, when you're climbing a mountain of this height, you need to start somewhere and that's what we did," he told the ABC.

"We've got an issue in the budget, we've got big, persistent structural spending pressure in the budget, that means we've inherited a budget in structural deficit."

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

The economy is forecast to grow by 3.25 per cent this financial year, but growth will slow to just 1.5 per cent next year.

Dr Chalmers warned bigger spending pressures on the budget were set to increase.

"In the longer term, there's a bigger job to do, to put the budget on a more sustainable path," he said.

"This is just the beginning of our budget repair work, and it's just the beginning of the conversation we need to have as a country."

The budget foreshadowed power prices would rise by 20 per cent this financial year, before increasing a further 30 per cent the following year.

The treasurer said the government would consider regulatory steps to ease power prices.

"This pressure is coming from a busted energy market around the world, a consequence of the war in Ukraine," he said.

"But the consequences of that are being borne around the kitchen table. And we won't ignore that."

In cost-of-living measures, child care will be made cheaper for 1.26 million people, while more than $530 million will be spent expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2026.

An extra $787 million has also been set aside to reduce co-payments for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, while money has been allocated to support pay rises for low-paid workers.

The budget delivered on a number of key Labor election promises.

A national housing accord has set a target of one million new homes to be built over the next five years.

The NDIS will also be boosted by an extra $8.8 billion over the next four years, while $235 million will be spent on urgent care clinics and $750 million to strengthen Medicare.

Dr Chalmers said the disability insurance scheme could rise in cost to hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

"We want to make sure that people are at the centre of the NDIS. We want to do the right thing by Australians with a disability," he said.

"That means making sure that spending in the program is sustainable."

© AAP 2022

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Jurors in the trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins are entering a fifth day of deliberations after being instructed by a judge to keep trying to find a verdict.

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

On Tuesday afternoon, following three days and six hours of deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court indicating they were 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.

Within minutes, the jury sent another note asking to finish for the day and return to court with "fresh minds" on Wednesday.

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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Rishi Sunak says he is not daunted by the scale of the challenge as he became Britain's third prime minister in two months, pledging to restore trust, rebuild confidence and lead the country through an economic crisis.

The 42-year-old former hedge fund boss, who has only been in elected politics for seven years, has been tasked with bringing an end to the infighting and feuding at Westminster that has horrified investors and alarmed international allies.

"I fully appreciate how hard things are," he said on Tuesday outside the prime minister's residence at Downing Street where he shunned the normal tradition of standing with his family and political supporters.

"I understand too that I have work to do to restore trust, after all that has happened. All I can say is that I am not daunted. I know the high office I have accepted and I hope to live up to its demands."

Sunak, one of the richest men in parliament, is expected to slash spending to plug an estimated STG40 billion pound ($A72 billion) hole in the public finances created by an economic slowdown, higher borrowing costs and a six-month program of support for people's energy bills.

With his party's popularity in freefall, Sunak will also face growing calls for an election if he moves too far from the policy manifesto that elected the Conservative Party in 2019, when then leader Boris Johnson pledged to invest heavily in the country.

Economists and investors have said Sunak's appointment will calm markets, but they warn that he has few easy options when millions are battling a cost of living crunch.

"I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda," he said, shortly after he accepted King Charles's request to form a government. "This will mean difficult decisions to come."

He also vowed to put the public's need above politics, reflecting the mounting anger at the sense of perma-crisis that has gripped Britain since the historic 2016 vote to leave the European Union unleashed a battle for the future of the country.

Sunak has warned his colleagues they face an "existential crisis" if they do not help to steer the country through the surging inflation and record energy bills that are forcing many households and businesses to cut back spending.

Britain's youngest prime minister for more than 200 years and its first leader of colour, he replaced Liz Truss who resigned after 44 days following a "mini budget" that sparked turmoil in financial markets.

He will now need to review all spending, including on politically sensitive areas such as health, education, defence, welfare and pensions.

In her farewell speech at Downing Street on Tuesday Truss did not apologise for her short tenure or mini-budget despite it sparking a collapse in the pound and a surge in borrowing costs and mortgage rates.

Sunak paid tribute to Truss and said her plan to reignite economic growth had not been wrong, but he said mistakes were made. "And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister, in part to fix them," he said.

Sunak is expected to retain Jeremy Hunt as finance minister after the former foreign and health secretary helped calm volatile bond markets by ripping up most of Truss's economic program.

"Sunak, a Goldman Sachs analyst who only entered parliament in 2015, must unite his party, aware that voters are increasingly angry over the antics at Westminster as the economy heads for recession.

He was blamed by many in the party when he quit as finance minister in the summer, triggering a wider rebellion that brought down Johnson.

Sunak, a Hindu, becomes Britain's first prime minister of Indian origin.

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Rishi Sunak has become Britain's third prime minister in two months, tasked with tackling a mounting economic crisis, a warring political party and a deeply divided country in one of the greatest challenges to confront any new leader.

The 42-year-old former hedge fund boss was asked to form a government by King Charles on Tuesday, and will seek to bring an end to the infighting and feuding at Westminster that has horrified investors and alarmed international allies.

He has addressed the nation from Downing Street before starting to build his cabinet of senior ministers.

Sunak, one of the richest men in parliament, will have to find deep spending cuts to plug an estimated STG40 billion ($A72 billion) hole in the public finances due to an economic slowdown, higher borrowing costs and a six-month program of support for people's energy bills.

With his party's popularity in freefall, Sunak will also face growing calls for an election if he moves too far from the policy manifesto that elected the Conservative Party in 2019, when then leader Boris Johnson pledged to invest heavily in the country.

Economists and investors have said Sunak's appointment will calm markets, but they warn that he has few easy options when millions are battling a cost of living crunch.

"With a recession in 2023 now increasingly likely, and the next general election in only two years' time, Rishi Sunak can expect a challenging premiership," Eiko Sievert at the Scope ratings agency told Reuters.

Sunak has warned his colleagues they face an "existential crisis" if they do not help to steer the country through the surging inflation and record energy bills that are forcing many households and businesses to cut back spending.

"We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together," he said as he was elected by his lawmakers on Monday.

Sunak, Britain's youngest prime minister for more than 200 years and its first leader of colour, replaced Liz Truss who resigned after 44 days following a "mini budget" that sparked turmoil in financial markets.

With debt interest costs rising and the outlook for the economy deteriorating, he will now need to review all spending, including on politically sensitive areas such as health, education, defence, welfare and pensions.

Speaking seven weeks to the day after she arrived as prime minister, Truss gave a departure speech in front of 10 Downing Street but did not apologise for her short tenure and said she knew Britain was set for brighter days.

During her time in office the pound hit a record low against the dollar, borrowing costs and mortgage rates surged, and the Bank of England was forced to intervene to protect pension funds from collapsing.

Sunak is expected to retain Jeremy Hunt as finance minister after the former foreign and health secretary helped calm volatile bond markets by ripping up most of Truss's economic program.

Investors will also want to know if Sunak still plans to publish a new budget alongside borrowing and growth forecasts on October 31, which would help inform the Bank of England's interest rate decision on November 3.

Sunak, a Goldman Sachs analyst who entered parliament in 2015, must unite his party, aware that voters are increasingly angry over the antics at Westminster as the economy heads for recession.

He was blamed by many in the party when he quit as finance minister in the summer, triggering a wider rebellion that brought down Johnson.

While many expressed relief that the party settled on a new leader quickly, a sense of distrust remains among some while others questioned whether struggling families would relate, or ever vote, for a multimillionaire.

"I think this decision sinks us as a party for the next election," one Conservative lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Sunak, a Hindu, becomes Britain's first prime minister of Indian origin.

© RAW 2022