Scott Morrison has delivered a basket of budget goodies to keep disabled people, schools, pensioners, GPs and first home buyers happy, but Australia's big banks and wage earners will have to pick up the tab.
With a vow to deliver a budget based on fairness, security and opportunity, the treasurer is slugging the nation's biggest five banks with a levy to reap $6.2 billion and help return the budget to surplus.
Mr Morrison argues it's a "fair" extra contribution from the banks, which won't be able to tap home loan customers or savers to pay for it.
Wage earners will also be hit with a 0.5 percentage point rise in the Medicare levy to help fund the $21 billion National Insurance Disability Scheme.
Mr Morrison says the increased levy, which doesn't come in for another two years, "reflects the fact that all Australians have a role to play" in funding support programs for more than 400,000 disabled people.
After playing down speculation that the budget would have a magic solution to Australia's soaring house prices, Mr Morrison restricted himself to allowing first home buyers to tip up to $30,000 into their superannuation funds to help save for a deposit.
He's also enticing older home owners to move into smaller properties by letting them put $300,000 into their super funds after selling their property, while tweaking some deductions claimed on negatively geared investment properties and vowing to work with state and local governments to boost housing supply.
However foreign property investors will be hit by an annual $5000 levy for leaving "ghost houses" vacant for more than six months.
Mr Morrison had plenty in his goody basket for the healthcare sector, with new laws guaranteeing the future of Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, as well as billions in funding for hospitals, medical research, new medicines and mental health.
As previously announced, the government's $18.6 billion funding package for schools was a key part of the budget, along with controversial higher fees for university students.
The 92,000 pensioners who lost their concession cards as a result of changes to the asset test in January will be happy to see them restored "over time", while small businesses win a one-year extension to the $20,000 asset tax writeoffs scheme.
All those incentives have to be paid for somehow, and Mr Morrison believes a crackdown on welfare cheats will help.
Those who regularly miss Centrelink appointments or fail to take on suitable jobs will have their benefits cut or axed.
They'll also no longer be able to use the excuse of being drunk or on drugs as a valid reason to miss their appointments, while 5000 new welfare recipients will be subject to drug tests.
While Mr Morrison claims his budget is all about making the right choices to secure better days ahead, but it will be up to a testy Senate to make the ultimate call on that.
