Pensioners, welfare recipients and all manner of people are being asked to take a fiscal hit for the sake of the budget bottom line.
But Monday's mid-year budget update contained good news for one group of people.
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MPs will benefit from $47.8 million in new spending for offices, staff and parking.
Those who stand to gain the most are the seven MPs with electorates that are bigger than 350,000 square kilometres.
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The government will spend $8.1 million over four years furnishing them with a third staffed electorate office in recognition of the distances they need to travel to adequately represent their electorates.
This makes good on a recommendation made in April's review of the parliamentary entitlements system.
However, the review recommended the extra office space be granted to the six MPs with electorates that are bigger than 500,000 square kilometres.
The government decided to pay for the extra office and staff for a seventh MP - Deputy Speaker and National Party MP Mark Coulton, whose NSW electorate of Parkes covers 393,413 square kilometres.
Of the seven MPs who benefit from the additional resources, five are members of the Coalition.
One Labor MP - Warren Snowden, who represents the second largest electorate, Lingiari - and one independent, Bob Katter - whose Queensland electorate of Kennedy covers 568,993 square kilometres - are the two non government members to benefit.
A further $35.8 million will be spent on employing an extra 33 staff and giving pay raises to staff of politicians.
The papers do not say which MPs will gain the extra staff but they will be employed by independents and members of minor parties as well as by major parties.
There are now more than 900 political staffers employed by federal MPs, a far cry from the early days of federation when politicians had no staff.
It was not until 1944 that MPs were allowed to employ a typist and not until 1976 when they could employ a second staff member.
Parliament House will also gain a new carpark at the cost of $3.9 million over four years.
The new carpark will be built on land in the parliamentary triangle because it is not possible to extend the existing underground carparks.
The bottom level of the building's existing carparks were subject to a famous budgetary measure when the Hawke government decided to save money on the construction of the new Parliament House by refusing to pay for the carparks' lifts to descend to the lowest level.