Policymakers will have to think carefully about pricing, taxation and providing discounts for buying in bulk. Else legalisation may not deliver a substantial tax windfall after all.
In this podcast, @michellegrattan and the Greens spokesperson on housing and homelessness, @MChandlerMather, discuss the $10b housing fund, rent-freezes, and net migration
The Parliamentary Library would certainly benefit from more funding, but the Parliamentary Budget Office urgently needs a wider brief and greater independence
Bill shocks are the flipside of a surplus built on higher tax collections and tighter access to support payments.
Shutterstcok
With the current state of the South African economy and public finances, the Parliamentary Budget Office could play a major role in ensuring that this happens. But the office is in complete disarray
Scott Morrison as treasurer during the May 2018 budget lockup.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The parliamentary budget office expects Australians to be paying significantly higher average tax rates in 2020/21, but their assumptions bear no relation to reality.
South Africa’s previous finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, delivering his medium term budget last October.
Nic Bothma/EPA
South Africa’s Parliamentary Budget Office had 10 months to prepare its findings about the cost of a nuclear programme. Its final report was little more than a summary of other institutions’ work.
The Australian system allows for fuel excise exemptions for off-road usage by the mining industry and by primary producers.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Critics of Australia’s fuel tax credits system have pointed to its impact on the budget bottom line, but calculating that cost is far from straightforward.
Former Treasurer Wayne Swan first introduced the idea of a post-election costing of policies.
Reuters
The scandal at Uganda’s Parliamentary Budget Office shows that figuring out the proper roles, functions, internal controls, and capacities is more pressing than ever.
Labor leader Bill Shorten wants to be seen as a credible economic manager.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
A Labor government would toughen the means test on Family Tax Benefit A end-of-year supplements.
Chris Bowen stressed that Labor’s fiscal program, when fully released, would ‘see us return to budget balance in exactly the same time frame as the government’.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The opposition will attempt to strengthen its economic credentials by announcing on Friday a package of savings to help pay for its policies and improve the budget bottom line.
In his Tuesday National Press Club address, Chris Bowen highlighted the need to preserve Australia’s AAA credit rating.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Chris Bowen presented at the National Press Club on Tuesday as a well-prepared alternative treasurer, who could slot into the real job very easily if July 2 brought the chance. “Neat” is the word that…
$4 billion of student loan debt is likely to never be repaid by 2025.
from www.shutterstock.com
Academic experts respond to the latest report by the Parliamentary Budget Office on the impact of student loans on the budget.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest might be be down $2 billion, but the decline in commodity prices is just one of many factors hurting Tony Abbott’s budget bottom line.
Nikki Short/AAP
In the wake of a falling iron ore price that has cut his personal fortune by more than A$2 billion, Andrew Forrest has remained unperturbed, saying: “I didn’t count on the way up, and I’m not counting…