The latest budget shows we’re starting to cement the view that an adequate development budget is non-negotiable if Australia wants to have influence in the region.
It’s said the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. Let’s hope that’s not the case with Mathias Cormann’s climate stance when he joins the OECD.
In his first budget and in opposition, Joe Hockey’s single-minded focus was on cutting the budget debt and deficits. For his second budget he’s telling a different story.
AAP/Paul Miller
Joe Hockey’s first budget was a declaration of ideological belief. The second is about political survival and depends on breathing life back into the economy – the ideological urgency can wait.