Miranda Stewart, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University e Teck Chi Wong, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
In it’s first inclusion in the Open Budget Index of 115 countries, Australia ranks 12th.
Those demanding free higher education don’t realise this would be a regressive policy.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Funding for a children’s health insurance program ran out at the end of last September. Despite the program’s clear benefits, plans to renew it have been caught in partisan bickering.
In announcing free higher education, South African President Jacob Zuma, lobbed a populist hot potato at the ANC elective conference but it’s ordinary people whose fingers will be burnt.
Slightly more optimistic economic figures gives Scott Morrison and the Turnbull government a boost heading into 2018, as the charts explain.
Lukas Coch/AAP and The Conversation
Australian government environmental funding has decreased by a third since 2013. At the same time, Australia is experiencing massive species loss as funding for the sector dries up.
Each year the government runs a A$40 billion deficit, it increases the lifetime tax burden for households headed by a person aged 25 to 34 by A$10,000.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Unless the government is willing to increase taxes elsewhere to pay for tax cuts there will be longer-term costs for the budget and the economy. And younger Australians will wear these costs.
Indonesia might benefit from having a Legislative Budget Office (LBO).
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Indonesia needs to follow the example of many other countries and have a legislative budget office. It would consist of economists that advice government on budgets.
Breaking down the big numbers.
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The imposition of the fee free higher education proposal on South Africa’s National Treasury without due consideration represents an escalation of the state capture led by President Jacob Zuma.
South Africa’s 2017 medium term budget reveals a growing gap between revenue and expenditure which places the country in a highly vulnerable financial state.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leave the Prime Minister’s office holding copies of the federal budget in Ottawa in March. Would Canada benefit from a Budget Honesty Charter of the type that’s had success in Australia?
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Australia’s Charter of Budget Honesty could be easily adopted by Canada. Such a charter can include suggestions for constraints and rules that encourage fiscal discipline.
South Africa waits with bated breath for the 2017 medium term budget policy statement from new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, as it might reveal key signals of where economic policy is headed.
South Africa’s previous finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, delivering his medium term budget last October.
Nic Bothma/EPA
The 30% subsidy for private health insurance was predicted to be a bad and costly policy many years ago. And 20 years later, the only thing that’s changed is the $6 billion-plus hole in the budget.
The government is beginning the process of changing the spending culture, Scott Morrison says.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The government will highlight in its May 9 budget a distinction between ‘good’ debt, incurred to boost growth, and ‘bad’ debt, used to finance welfare and other recurrent spending.
The budget is a centrepiece of fiscal policy in Australia.
Julian Smith/AAP
Because the budget is a very difficult means of carrying out targeted fiscal policy, it’s become more important as a centrepiece for the government’s economic strategy.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne