Australia’s budget numbers are increasingly a mirage as billions in spending are labelled as ‘investments’ to improve the fiscal optics. Leading economists are demanding change.
Before launching his crusade to overturn the West Australian GST deal, economist Saul Eslake waged another war.
Frustrated by the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments’ tendencies to label spending on areas such as the national broadband network as “assets” rather than expenses, thereby artificially improving the budget bottom line, Eslake convinced the then Greens leader Christine Milne to join his push for fiscal transparency.
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Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS. Connect with Michael on Twitter. Email Michael at michael.read@afr.com
