We’ve two options of keeping ourselves out of recession, neither of them easy. The government will have to abandon its determination to get the budget into surplus.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a campaign rally. They’ll have to shore up a weakening economy.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Delivering his post-budget address, Bowen will point to an analysis released by KPMG estimating that by the end of the forward estimates Labor’s tax-to-GDP ratio would be just over 24%.
The budget tax cuts aren’t tax reform, and probably can’t be paid for over the longer term.
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Kees Van Gool, University of Technology Sydney and Jane Hall, University of Technology Sydney
It’s important that the proposed reforms do not just fund more care, but support more of the best care.
With more than a million Australians using public transport to get to work each day, demand for car parking at the station is virtually insatiable.
Philip Mallis/flickr
The Commuter Car Park Fund announced in the budget sounds big, but is likely to create only around 30,000 extra spaces – a marginal benefit for Australia’s 1.2 million daily public transport users.
Shorten said the government was buying time “to pump up their own tyres” with advertising.
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As Morrison readies to call the election, with speculation he will announce next weekend for May 18, he has also increased his lead over Shorten as better prime minister in Newspoll.
Labor’s budget reply stole the mic from the government.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Invasive pest ants cause billions of dollars worth of damage to crops, and threaten some of Australia’s World Heritage rainforests. The federal budget has pledged nearly $30m on wiping them out – but how?
Bill Shorten’s budget reply speech was aimed at middle and lower income earners.
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The Labor Party has signalled that equality and fairness will form the centrepiece of its policy framework - but there will be challenges to that if it wins office in May.
Labor will provide a bigger tax refund than the Liberals for 3.6 million Australians.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Unveiled in his budget reply on Thursday night, Shorten said this would be the “most important investment in Medicare since Bob Hawke created it”.
The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling has calculated the impact of the 2019 federal budget’s tax and welfare transfer changes.
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The Morrison government’s tax changes will benefit high income earners the most and low income earners the least, says the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
If your’re wealthy you’ll be able to put more money into super without even working.
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If you’ve got money and are in your mid-60s you’ll be able to funnel more into super without even working under a budget plan that makes a mockery of super.
Despite boasts of ‘record’ infrastructure spending, relative to GDP it’s comparable to previous budgets. What’s different is that Treasurer Frydenberg has chanced his arm more over the longer term.
Frydenberg may claim education is critical to the prosperity of our country, but his budget does not reflect this.
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The government has delivered a pretty disappointing budget for education, with no secure funding for early childhood education and a recycled commitment of $300 for schools.