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Articles on Joe Hockey

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Prime Minister Tony Abbott needs to contain the backbiting and discontent in the higher reaches of his government. AAP/Lukas Coch

Grattan on Friday: Being a ‘better government’ will be a big job

After getting a serious bollocking from Ray Hadley on Thursday, Tony Abbott told the Sydney shock jock that he’s determined to be “a better prime minister with a better government and a more effective…
This government is fond of comparing the economy to a household budget - but there is one really major difference. AAP/Lukas Koch

Why the federal budget is not like a household budget

Treasurer Joe Hockey is experiencing difficult times. Deteriorating terms of trade and an uncooperative senate mean that he cannot deliver the surplus when he said he would and he cannot continue to cut…
Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann have said the government will get the budget back into surplus. AAP/Lukas Coch

Government reveals $40 billion budget deficit, clings to surplus hope

The budget is projected to return to surplus in 2019-20, according to the budget update which shows this financial year’s deficit has blown out from less than A$30 billion to more than $40 billion. Treasurer…
Treasurer Joe Hockey has sought to make a virtue of what will be a substantial worsening of the projected deficits. AAP/Lukas Coch

Some barnacles can’t be removed in time for Christmas

Some barnacles are not, it seems, able to be removed – certainly not in time for Christmas. As the political year grinds to its end, the Prime Minister’s Office is under almost as much attack as that of…
Treasurer Joe Hockey said that the government were focused on outcomes rather than process in 2014. AAP/ Britta Campion

After the bad news, the government promises to talk a lot more

A very measured Joe Hockey has appeared on TV with a dual mission – to lay the ground for bad fiscal news, and to tell an angry electorate the government is revising its sales strategy. First, Monday’s…
Christmas is unlikely to come early this year for retailers as consumers bunker down and pay off household debt. Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Sorry Joe, consumer spending will disappoint Santa this Christmas

Treasurer Joe Hockey called on shoppers this week to “not let Santa down” and asked them to spend up big at the stores this Christmas. Unfortunately, the latest retail and consumer confidence data indicate…
Joe Hockey will try to lay the blame for the worse than expected accounts on the former government. AAP/Alan Porritt

Hockey’s bad year will finish on painful note

Modern politicians are schooled in the art of designer “blather” – how, as a dodging tactic, to talk endlessly without saying anything much. They are coached to avoid repeating words of a provocative question…
John Howard made sure he was facing the same way as other world leaders on climate policy, unlike the current Prime Minister. AAP Image/David Crosling

How John Howard could help turn Tony Abbott around on climate

Throughout his prime-ministership, which ran from 1996 to 2007, John Howard’s perspective on climate change was informed by geopolitics more than science. The Kyoto Protocol, the key international climate…
Treasurer Joe Hockey wants Australia to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. EPA/DREW ANGERER

Division over bank as Australia caught between China and US

Senior cabinet ministers are believed to be divided over whether Australia should sign up to an internationally funded infrastructure development bank that China is set to launch next month. Treasurer…
Universities in the US have led the divestment charge - the ANU is leading the Australian movement. Light Brigading/Flickr

Divestment backlash shows companies need to improve sustainability reporting

Tony Abbott’s criticisms of the ANU’s divestment decision will come back to bite him. The tide of change is such that Vice-Chancellor Ian Young and the ANU Council will be seen as leaders. Others will…
Treasurer Joe Hockey plans to reignite the economic reform debate early next year, but will he tackle the bigger-picture changes many economists have called for? AAP Image/Lukas Coch

The economic crisis a complacent Australia has to have

In November 1990, then treasurer Paul Keating announced that Australia was in recession – and that it was “the recession we had to have”. Today, there are growing calls for serious, structural economic…
Treasurer Joe Hockey has picked up the pace on tax information sharing, in response to a push by the OECD. Dave Hunt/AAP

What’s needed for Australia to seriously tackle tax avoidance

Despite Treasurer Joe Hockey’s continued statements that the government is doing “everything we can … to ensure that companies that earn profits in Australia pay tax in Australia”, the federal government…
When Joe Hockey argues against dole-bludgers is he talking about individuals - or the entire welfare state? Alan Porritt/AAP

Bludgers and battlers are back as Hockey takes aim at welfare state

Bludgers are back, and with them their traditional sparring partners, the battlers. The welfare changes in the Abbott government’s first budget have created fierce debate. On the side of the government…
Robert Menzies may be a Liberal hero for John Howard and his successors in the current government, but his budgets fit their definition of ‘disaster’. AAP/Alan Porritt

Menzies, a failure by today’s rules, ran a budget to build the nation

Robert Menzies left Australia in far worse financial shape than he found it, at least according to current treasurer Joe Hockey’s favourite debt and deficit benchmark. Having inherited budget surpluses…
Every treasurer should be aware of the ultimate cost of government spending to taxpayers. Alan Porritt/AAP

In defence of fiscally conservative treasurers

Many highly distinguished economists such as my friend Geoff Harcourt come from what is commonly known as the Post-Keynesian school. This means they believe the theory of economics and fiscal policy applied…
When faced with an economic policy agenda, the public must be persuaded on two fronts: that it is justified both by evidence and morally. AAP/Paul Miller

The government can sell the budget if it gets its story straight

It is now more than three months since the Abbott government released its first budget. Amid the subsequent wrangling over controversial measures such as the A$7 GP co-payment and re-indexing the fuel…
Rich or poor, being stuck in traffic is always annoying. Shultz6/Wikimedia Commons

FactCheck: do poor people drive less?

“The people that actually pay the most are higher income people, with an increase in fuel excise… The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases.” – Treasurer…

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