Will The 2016 Budget Finally Boot Five Cent Coins?

Treasurer Scott Morrison is (negative) gearing up to unveil his first Budget this evening, and speculation is rife as to what it will contain. Rife!

Of course, there are some near certainties.

According to the SMH, the Coalition's 2016 Budget will reportedly unveil multinational tax avoidance measures; meaning, big-time overseas companies making money in Oz – like Google - will have to pay tax in Australia. It’s expected to raise billions over four years.

The Government's Budget even adopts Labor’s tobacco tax hike of 12.5 per cent, potentially bringing the cost of cigarettes to $40 by 2020.

(Though Labor is also proposing their own tax on tobacco, the Government is questioning their claim that it will raise $47.7 billion over ten years; rather, the Gov’s Budget has it at $28.2 billion over ten years.)

There remains a question as to whether or not ‘negative gearing’ (the process by which property investors can write off the interest of their mortgage against other sources of income, leading – some say – to increased property prices) will be touched, though the Coalition is leaning towards leaving as is.

But what many are wondering is whether or not the coming Budget will to do away with five cent coins, once and for all.

As News.com.au notes, it now costs the Mint six cents to make each five cent coin, which seems like a waste.

Even the Mint’s chief executive Ross MacDiamid says the five cent piece has “lost its utility”.

The coin turned 50 back in February, and has now been around twice as long as the one cent and two cent pieces, which were both booted in the 1990 Budget.

We’ll learn more when ScoMo drops the Budget this evening. Maybe start saying your goodbyes to the fives.

Photo: NBC.