Stock Tip: Shares that will Benefit from the Australian Budget

Last week the Australian government handed down their 2006-07 federal budget. Macquarie Research Equities (MRE) notes that "The centre piece of the Budget was the personal income tax cuts which were more widespread and extensive than the financial markets had been anticipating. This will inevitably provoke fears that interest rates may have to rise in order to offset the fiscal stimulus.
The key initiatives announced in the Budget that have notable implications for the Australian listed market are as follows:
- Reductions in the tax rates on personal income as well as increases to the thresholds for each tax rate;
- Accelerating the depreciation allowance for eligible business investment;
- Abolition of the Reasonable Benefit Limit (RBL) and age based contribution limits, and the elimination of tax of benefits paid to retires from taxed superannuation funds."
Here are some Australian listed stocks that MRE believes that will benefit from the budget:

"- AMP, the major banks CBA, WBC, ANZ, and NAB to varying degrees through their exposure to superannuation savings;
- Mining and mining services sectors, infrastructure, and telecommunications will benefit over the long term generally from the acceleration of deprecation rates.
- More particularly, companies with high and/or rising CAPEX to depreciation rates forecast in FY07 are GTP, BDG, JHX, ALN, AWC, ABC, EXL, FCL, BBI, BLD and BBG;
- Discretionary retail stocks such as HVN, CML and DJS as well as the smaller specialty retailer will likely see some modest boost to sales as a result of the boost after tax income resulting from lower personal income tax."