Lukas Coch/AAP
The budget is Australia’s State of the Union. It’s the only night of the year the government sets out a program against which it can be held accountable.
Scott Morrison is continuing to make the case for the government’s company tax cut plan to be passed.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The volatile political debate between the two major parties about the long-term vision for tax has left small businesses in the lurch.
The government is keen to push its omnibus savings bill through parliament.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
We need to ask on what basis the government is making its budget savings a ‘moral’ issue, and how the opposition can possibly support it.
Scott Morrison said Australia has an earnings problem.
AAP/David Moir
Federal treasurer Scott Morrison’s diagnosis of the risks and challenges confronting the Australian economy is hard to fault. But tackling those problems will require flexibility from the government.
How possible will budget repair be?
AAP/Andrew Taylor
Hoping for the best is not a budget management strategy: but Australia can set realistic goals.
In announcing the costings the Coalition has sought the mantle of better economic managers.
AAP/Adrian Muscat
The Coalition says it has costed its additional expenditure and will deliver $2.3 billion in savings, in contrast to Labor.
Both major parties support lowering the repayment threshold for student loans.
from www.shutterstock.com
The threshold for paying back student loans will vary depending on which party wins the election.
Higher earning women aged in their 50s are penalised by prospective super changes.
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
Modelling the proposed superannuation policies on gender has revealed unintended consequences.
Teaching innovation in our universities may now be at risk.
from www.shutterstock.com
Now that the OLT is closing and the grants and fellowships are lost, it is not clear whether the government will play an active role in enhancing teaching excellence in our universities.
The Federal Budget is put together by the Department of Finance and Treasury, unlike PEFO.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The Pre-election Fiscal Outlook shows two things, the ridiculousness of 10 year forecasts and that we need a tougher Parliamentary Budget Office.
Your at a glance guide to all the figures in the Pre-election Financial and Economic Outlook statement for the 2016 election.
Major economic indicators have not changed since the federal budget.
Flickr/Francisco Martins
Treasury is standing by the assumptions made in the federal budget.
Backpackers have always been treated as non-residents for tax purposes.
AAP/Julian Smith
Backpackers always were treated as non-residents for tax purposes, that’s why changes aren’t necessary.
Fairness is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to bracket creep.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Short-term, the bracket creep measures help high income earners. But longer-term it evens out.
Not quite so optimistic.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Two government claims about the apparent boost to the economy of company tax are put to the test.
If a funding promise is later “unpromised”, does that constitute a cut?
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Among Labor’s most popular refrains is the claim that the government has cut $80 billion from schools and hospitals. Is it true?
Political parties can’t rely on a halo effect from election year budgets.
AAP/Lukas Coch
More often than not, Australians find budgets hard to like. But research shows a fascinating response on voting intentions.
False assumptions about the “average worker” impacts on decisions about childcare, paid parental leave and aged care funding.
Flickr/Ian
False economic assumptions beset the federal budget and that should worry both political parties.
George Bush’s infamous Bush Tax Cuts have dogged America’s finances ever since.
Reuters/Jason Reed
In 2003, US President George W. Bush campaigned on a 10-year ‘economic plan’ for “jobs and growth”. If it sounds familiar, it should.
Is rejecting a proposed tax cut the same as a tax increase?
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Is Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull right to say that Labor plans to increase taxes by A$100 billion over ten years?