God bless Scott Morrison, Labor must say to itself daily, as the former prime minister remains a recurring reminder of the bad old days of a disorderly government.
In this podcast, we talk to Chalmers, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, and the head of the Grattan Institute Danielle Wood about power prices, tax pressures and spending reforms
It’s easy to spot the similarities in how this first Labor budget and its Coalition predecessors approached transport projects. Their eye-watering spending isn’t supported by proper assessments.
The budget earmarked worthwhile climate measures, but many are piecemeal. Amid record-breaking extreme weather in Australia, federal spending on climate action still falls well short.
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Frightened by the prospect of an inflation rate approaching 8%, Chalmers has pumped very little into the economy, funding most of their extra spending by cutting Coalition programs.
Chalmers promised the budget would be “workmanlike”, not “flashy”, and he’s kept his word. Almost all of it had been pre-issued by the government, including measures and numbers.
Delivered against a background of rising inflation, increasing interest rates and huge global uncertainties, Labor’s first budget will also contain $33 billion in extra funding for pensions and payments.
Shaping up as an outspoken protagonist in the current “gas wars”, Industry Minister Ed Husic this week launched a barrage of criticism at the producers.
The treasurer’s Tuesday’s appearances were his first after receiving a major rebuff when Anthony Albanese at the weekend quashed any prospect of rejigging the Stage 3 tax cuts in the budget.
the government on Monday will point to 28 major defence projects running a total of more than 97 years late, as it highlights pressures it faces on the budget