CANBERRA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Treasurer Scott Morrison signaled on Monday that he will attempt to regain the faith of middle Australia when he delivers the annual federal budget in May.
Morrison said a number of contemporary Australian issues involves the nation's middle class, and admitted to News Corp that housing affordability and keeping healthcare costs at a reasonable level are two major aims for the government when it hands down the much-anticipated budget.
"At the end of the day you have to deliver growth, guarantee services and get the budget back to balance in a credible way," Morrison said.
"The growth objective is paramount: without growth you can't do all the other things you want to do."
The treasurer said housing affordability was a major concern among Australians, and with auction prices in major cities continuing to soar, the government was hoping it could help young Australians get into the property market.
"Now, I am as much concerned about someone on a low income, struggling with their rent as I am with someone who I know wants to get into home ownership for themselves," he said.
"There's a focus (in the budget) on housing affordability that is looking at everything from homelessness and social housing."
Morrison said delivering a fiscally responsible budget while wage growth was plateauing was a challenge, but wanted to reassure voters that the government would do all it could to help middle income Australia.
"At a time when wages growth is admittedly and, regrettably, flat, I think Australians, particularly hard-working Australians on middle incomes, rely more and more and depend more and more upon these services," Morrison told News Corp.
"Hard-working Australian families rely on these services and I think an important message for the government is to ensure that we give them that confidence about that."
"So the budget does need to signal that people can feel confident about the support for those services."
