Australian macroeconomic numbers tell a story of larger imbalances than any in the past three quarters of a century. And yet we have just been through an election campaign during which the Morrison government sang, like Voltaire’s Candide, that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
The government promised to do nothing at all except confirm future tax cuts of historic dimension and spend a few more tens of billions of dollars, mostly on rubbish. Among other things, $5.5 billion for another dam on the Burdekin River which, a senior minister told the ABC’s Insiders, would be built even if the business case turned out to be negative.
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Ross Garnaut is emeritus professor of economics at University of Melbourne. His new book Let’s Tax Carbon and Other Ideas for a Better Australia is published by Black Inc with La Trobe University Press.
